Dear professional colleagues We are happy to inform that SALIS – The Society for the Advancement of Library and Information Science and Puthiya Thalaimurai TV Channel jointly organized a mega RALLY for promoting Reading Habit- ( an awareness programme-) and use the Library simultaneously at Chennai, Coimbatore, Erode, Tiruchi, Madurai, Tirunelveli and Pondichery on 15th November 2014 between 3 P.M to 6. 00 PM. About 8500 students from schools, colleges and universities and also about another 4000 LIS professionals, teachers, children and general public participated in the RALLY. Ministers, Several IAS and IPS officers, Vice-chancellors, College and Schools Principals, Film and media personalities, educationists, Social workers, NGO’S, writers, poets, speakers, etc were participated in all the seven cities and spoke about the importance of ‘READING HABIT’, ‘Why we should use Library’ and also about the RALLY. All of them appreciated and congratulated SALIS for having arranged the RALLY for a noble social cause successfully. About 10,000 people took the OATH (given below) to promote the Reading habit. ----I am aware that reading makes a person, expands one's skill, knowledge, wisdom and is also essential for the betterment of life. --- As an educated individual in the society of India, I commit that I shall read and make others around me especially children to read at least one hour in a day and also at least one book in a month. --- I assure that I will present books as gift and also urge others to do so. --- I shall work to spread this message with young students and parents to create a knowledge society. Designing and printing and sending 2000 posters, 10000 brochures, 10000 book marks, 10000 certificates, 700 placards, 250 banners, etc for the Rally to various cities in time was a herculean task. We distributed 600 T-shirts to volunteers and also distributed caps, books, brochures, book marks, pens, water bottle, snacks, fruity, bags, etc to about 8000 participants. Meticulously planned and arranged the inaugural function at the beginning of the RALLY and also Valedictory function at the end of the Rally in all the cities. The Rally covered about 3 K.M in all the places. Police personnel have given excellent support in all the places. Ambulance followed the Rally. We carried also medical kit for any emergency.. LIVE telecast for the entire programme has been arranged for the public. The programme was also telecast throughout the day on 15th and 16th Nov 2014. Prior announcement about the of the RALLY in TV has been made. Lakhs of people watched the Live telecast and continuous news items in the PT TV channel. Many personalities and senior SALIS members spoke to the media persons live explaining the importance of the RALLY. Many leading English and Tamil news papers such as The Hindu, Indian Express, Dinamalar, etc published news about the Rally. We had faced many challenges in getting police permission, getting sponsorship, inviting students from 100 of schools and colleges, fixing the VIPS, venues, etc and above all mobilizing sponsorship and resources in all the 7 cities. Continuous raining in Tamil Nadu and even earthquake warning threatened us till last minute. We had overcome all these hurdles with firm and courage and conducted the RALLY successfully and peacefully in all the seven cities. SALIS created a history for our profession and it is a milestone in the annals of SALIS. It is the social responsibility of all of us particularly to the LIS professionals to promote reading habit. The programme 'Vasippaom Nesippaom' is available now in YouTube. Those who have missed watching the programme can view now by visiting @ Vasippoam Nesippoam ( Let us Read and Love Books) http://youtu.be/V_CpBBdHIaw https://docs.google.com/file/d/0By9mWCPa18iBdEJuWUJwSkY5Zjg/edit?usp=drive_w... https://docs.google.com/file/d/0By9mWCPa18iBekdMVHZOUFphNEE/edit?usp=drive_w... The success of this programme was only due to the tremendous efforts put by the SALIS Governing Council, Chapter Executive committee and also meticulous planning and execution by SALIS HQ. We thank all our sponsors, contributors, volunteers, schools, colleges and other institutions (who sent their students and volunteers) , Police officials, Pressand Media, etc for their wonderful support. We thank sincerely our invitees, guests and the participants. We sincerely thank Puthiya Thalaimurai TV for jointly organizing the programme and also the B.S.Abdur Rahman University for sponsoring this mega event. This programme brought almost all the LIS professionals together in the state. The programme Vasippam Nesippoam has given an opportunity to know our strength, confidence and organizing skills. Thanks to all who have contributed directly or indirectly for organizing this mega event successfully in all the 7 cities. Organizers of RALLY SALIS -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.