When I was a school-going child (which for me was not very long ago), I used to love my library periods. It was one slot a week where I was allowed to lend books, a privilege that increased from one book to three by class 11th. That was my last year in school, since grade 12 happened online due to the pandemic.

I was obsessed with those short moments because they gave me access to hundreds of books across genres—be it literature, encyclopedias, or my favorite, Harry Potter. I kept taking those seven books home to reread for emotional comfort, like a warm hug. As a middle-class kid, I could not afford the Scholastic book fairs that happened in school or the exhibitions at Pragati Maidan, since those would run up to thousands of extra rupees I did not have to spare.

To my utter disappointment, college stopped that access. My Delhi University college, Gargi, did have a library, but it only stored old, dusty academic books (not even the updated versions). The other issue was that it was either on a strike or lunch break, or had a massive shortage since we only had 3–4 copies of a book for a major with 200+ students whenever we did try to issue them.

Carnegie’s Dream

This week I read a fascinating essay, “Gospel of Wealth,” by Andrew Carnegie. For those unfamiliar with him, he was an American steel industrialist of the late 19th century. In his essay, he argues that the rich have a moral responsibility to create institutions of learning like research centers and libraries.

He said that the greatest gift a millionaire could give was a library. To him, these were "Cathedrals of Learning"—grand spaces designed to spark curiosity and social mobility. Carnegie’s philosophy was specific: he didn't believe in mere charity. He wanted to provide the "ladders" upon which the aspiring could rise. He believed a library was the perfect gift because it only helped those who were willing to do the hard work of helping themselves.

Libraries: The Delhi Reality

But look at the modern Indian equivalent, like the Delhi Government’s recent "Aarambh" libraries.

They aren't filled with leather-bound books or quiet corners for philosophy. They are high-density, air-conditioned "reading rooms" filled with rows of desks and charging points. These libraries were a direct response to the July 2024 tragedy in Old Rajinder Nagar, where three students drowned in a flooded basement library.

Instead of building new "Cathedrals of Learning," the government is converting underutilized community centers into libraries with a subscription-based model where students pay ₹1,000 to ₹1,400 per month for an 8-hour shift. These modern Indian libraries are built for entrance examinations; a place to survive a 12-hour study shift for the UPSC, JEE, or NEET.

We are spending crores of rupees not on "knowledge," but on infrastructure for endurance. In our hyper-competitive landscape, the most valuable resource isn’t information (that’s free on our phones). The most valuable resource is silence and a chair.

We’ve traded the "Cathedral" for the "Bunker." It helps students clear exams, but does it help them think?

Initially, I thought this was a failure. Carnegie’s school of thought was to build ladders for mobility. However, if we are being honest, is that the way mobility happens in our 21st-century India? Or is it by cracking the right competitive exam? We can argue the usefulness of these exams. It might be a flawed system, but currently, it is the only way to access quality education.

So, we can look at this investment by the government as an acknowledgment of reality rather than the "should-be’s" of life. In a way, the "Bunker" is a very Carnegie-esque solution: it provides the bare-bones tools for the "strenuous" student to climb. Now, is it sad that we need an empty bunker more than actual books for learning? Maybe.

Funding Stamina: The Budget of Endurance

The latest data from the 2025-26 Revised Estimates demonstrates that the total Education Sector Budget has been scaled up to a staggering ₹20,702 crore (Revised Estimate), a significant jump from the initial estimate of ₹19,291 crore.

• Building Assets, Not Libraries: A massive chunk of this is directed at the "creation of assets," with the capital outlay for education alone increasing by over ₹1,185 crore compared to previous years.

• The Infrastructure Focus: Secondary Education infrastructure now accounts for ₹12,732 crore, fueling the physical construction of these rooms.

• Civic Fuel: The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has approved ₹4,140 crore purely for capital expenditure on civic infrastructure—the very fund that fuels the conversion of community centers into these "Aarambh" reading bunkers.

• The Irony of Innovation: While the budget for "Smart Classrooms" (₹100 crore) and "Language Labs" (₹21 crore) exists, the physical reality for many remains a ₹1,000/month subscription to a desk in a repurposed hall.

The "Efficiency" Trap: The government is proud of this spending. They are successfully building testing factories with 21% of the budget, rather than the intellectual cathedrals Carnegie envisioned. Carnegie hoped libraries would give people a "taste for literature" to make them better citizens, not just better workers. But our current model focuses entirely on the worker—the test-taker.

Looking beyond the Desk

If we look at libraries abroad—or even the premier institutions within India—they don't force a choice between "learning" and "studying." They provide the books to spark the fire and the desk to keep it burning.

The tragedy of the "Bunker" model is the assumption that an aspirant doesn't need anything other than a 2x3 foot space and a power socket. By removing the books, we remove the "accidental discovery"—the chance for a UPSC aspirant to stumble upon a book on sociology that changes their perspective, or for a CAT aspirant to find a business biography that inspires them beyond the mock scores.

With a ₹20,702 crore budget, we shouldn't have to choose.

The government is already spending the money to lease, air-condition, and staff these buildings. Why can’t a "reading room" also have a curated wall of books? Why can't a "testing factory" also be a "Cathedral of Learning"?

Currently, we are using our massive budget to fund stamina. But for the system to be truly wise, it needs to fund substance. We are building the chairs; it’s time we put some books back within reach of them.

Because at the end of the day, even the most focused aspirant needs a "warm hug" from a book once in a while.