He was speaking to reporters during a visit to the outlet of the Authority. The appeal has been made as books at discount rates would help make the books available to more people.
Siddalingaiah said that Dr Pradhan Gurudutt and Manu Baligar, the Secretary to the Department of Kannada and Culture also had signed the letter of request to the government.
He said that 30 new books had been printed by the Authority under the medical literature series and preparations were being made for their release. As many as 15 books in Kannada had been made available in Braille, Siddalingaiah said.
Siddalingaiah stressed on the need for programmes to encourage reading habits among children. The Kannada Book Authority was publishing a number of good books. Besides popularising them, efforts should be made to imbibe the reading habits among schoolchildren, he said.
The Authority had initiated a project to sell the books published by the Kannada and Culture Department at special discount rates, Siddalingaiah said. Kannada Book Authority Kolar outlet manager Kotiganahalli Ramaiah and others were present on the occasion.
