Aug 28, 2026 · 17 min · 8 segments
In India, people are still reading, and what's keeping the habit alive is a business model that's centuries old: private circulating libraries that lend books for a small fee and a name written in a…
Roshan KandasamyHost
Frankie LimHost
But the reason why we're talking about this, Frankie, of course, is that I read this Bloomberg article recently, and it talked about something that was rather charming happening in India, where despite smartphone streaming services and basically everything else that could possibly distract you and fight for your attention, people are still reading, and they're reading quite a lot.
And part of what's keeping the habit alive is a business model that's actually centuries old.
You pay a small subscription fee or borrowing fee, take a book home, read it and return it.
That doesn't sound particularly revolutionary, right? But I think you compare it with what they're trying to...
What... with what trying to join some public libraries in India like, because it's not as easy to get into.
Bloomberg reported that, or at least in the article, that getting a borrowing card at many of the public libraries can require a passport, photograph, proof of address, forms signed and stamped by your school or employer.
This sounds like routine things here, but when you have very unprofessional, undocumented population there very stretched out that's fair enough this is quite an intriguing thing and all you want to do is borrow a book so there is this Victoria Circulating Library and Music House in Mumbai and the owner Arif Merchan has a slightly simpler system he just writes your name in a book that's basically it The customers pay a deposit of 300 rupees.
But the reason why we're talking about this, Frankie, of course, is that I read this Bloomberg article recently, and it talked about something that was rather charming happening in India, where despite smartphone streaming services and basically everything else that could possibly distract you and fight for your attention, people are still reading, and they're reading quite a lot.
And part of what's keeping the habit alive is a business model that's actually centuries old.
You pay a small subscription fee or borrowing fee, take a book home, read it and return it.
That doesn't sound particularly revolutionary, right? But I think you compare it with what they're trying to...
What... with what trying to join some public libraries in India like, because it's not as easy to get into.
Bloomberg reported that, or at least in the article, that getting a borrowing card at many of the public libraries can require a passport, photograph, proof of address, forms signed and stamped by your school or employer.
This sounds like routine things here, but when you have very unprofessional, undocumented population there very stretched out that's fair enough this is quite an intriguing thing and all you want to do is borrow a book so there is this Victoria Circulating Library and Music House in Mumbai and the owner Arif Merchan has a slightly simpler system he just writes your name in a book that's basically it The customers pay a deposit of 300 rupees.
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