Creating voluntary sharing platforms with the not-so-fortunate is something that is enshrined in our Individual Social Responsibility™ policy. During the Centennial, we decided to extend the act of voluntary sharing to our customers through the Oxford Bookstores with a book donation drive.

Walk in customers were encouraged to donate their own books they and their children had already read at our stores. In collaboration with the Times Foundation and UNESCO the collected books were distributed through three NGOs in 5 different cities towards building libraries for thousands of children. A year later, even after the UNESCO´s National "Donate a Book" Initiative closed, we took the idea forward into the Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival 2011. Thousands of event invitations and flyers went out inviting everybody who came as a guest or as a panelist to the events to bring at least one book, meant for children below 15 years which were routed through the Kolkata based NGO partners of Donate a Book Initiative.