My name is Dr. Bhakti Gala. I am an Assistant Professor at the Central University of Gujarat.

Based on our research in rural and urban India, Dr. Devendra Potnis, who is an Associate Professor at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, USA, and I have developed a unified mobile, financial, and information literacy toolkit for public librarians who can use this toolkit to assess and enhance the “mobile payment readiness” of millions of people interested in using mobile phones for carrying out financial transactions in India. Public libraries can reinvent themselves to be more relevant for their local communities by helping their patrons use mobile phones for carrying out financial transactions. This toolkit is the result of a research project funded by ALISE and OCLC. 

Using our toolkit, public libraries in India can help the Government of India for achieving a cashless economy envisioned as part of the Digital India Programme. If public libraries decide to use our toolkit, it can change their perceived image and utility among the public. Public libraries could gain more support from their local communities and organizations for funding, one of the chronic challenges experienced by libraries in India.

Currently, the toolkit is available in English, Hindi, and Gujarati, at https://sis.utk.edu/dp/toolkit. We can translate this toolkit in other languages as per your need.  

If you have any issues, you can reach out to me at bhaktikgala@gmail.com.

Thanks!

Sincerely,

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Bhakti Gala, PhD