Taking a look at the books in the library at Ruby Hospital. Picture by Sanat Kumar Sinha

Curling up in bed at home with a favourite book is something we all enjoy doing. But lying cosily on a hospital bed with a title borrowed from the library of the hospital itself seems a bit far-fetched. Well, not any more.

Ruby Hospital has opened a library, spread across 150 sq ft on the fourth floor, for its indoor patients. Set up in association with Crossword bookstore, the library holds 600 titles for now.

It was unveiled on Friday in the presence of author Nabanita Deb Sen and film director Mrinal Sen, among others.

?Almost all hospitals have a library of medical books for doctors and some have a facility on wheels, comprising a few books and magazines. I think ours is the first library, at least in the eastern region, that caters exclusively to patients,? beamed Arindam Banerjee, general manager (marketing), Ruby Hospital.

The library has books on management, self-help, religion, fiction and non-fiction, children?s fiction, cookery and several other topics in Hindi, Bengali and English.

?Some of the books have been donated by Ramakrishna Mission and ISKCON. Some employees, too, have handed over their collections. The rest have been procured from Crossword,? said Banerjee.

Though Banerjee has been working on the library for the past three months, Crossword entered the scene only three or four weeks ago.

?We got a call from Ruby and since the idea appealed to us, we decided to join the project. Many libraries buy books from us, but a library for patients is a unique concept. We are happy to have given them technical assistance and books at a discount,? said Sidharth Pansari of Crossword.

Indoor patients will be provided with a list of books in the library. They can choose and the library staff will bring the books to them. ?Those who are fit enough to visit the library can do so, but we will encourage patients to ask for books to be delivered to their rooms,? said Banerjee.

Waving away fears that patients might tire themselves reading, Banerjee said: ?We keep a regular tab on the patients. We will not allow any patient to pore over books for long hours, nor will they be allowed to read anything that might excite them and affect their health. We are working to remove fear, anxiety and depression associated with a hospital.?