#Hopenotout: Shahid Afridi breaks ground to restore former glory to Tank library

Keeping his promise, former Pakistan cricket team captain Shahid Afridi broke ground on Saturday for the rehabilitation of a public library in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Tank district that had fallen into complete disrepair.

Heart wrenching images made the rounds on social media in August, showing how the district's sole public library had been turned into a garbage dump.

Afridi, at the time, had vowed to restore the library, lamenting that such a vital structure had remained closed for 15 years.

Today, following the groundbreaking ceremony, the former-cricketer-turned-philanthropist stressed on the importance of books and reading for a society.

"When one book can open up the window to a new world, imagine the universe that will unfold with an entire library," he said.

"Tank's library stands witness to a decline in our national priorities. We must not only safeguard our educational heritage, we must nourish it," Afridi said.

"We must see that our homes have more books and that books have more homes," he added.

According to an Arab News report, the during the inauguration ceremony, said: “Libraries are important for girls and boys to study.”

“Education is essential for the development of any state. If we look into the literacy rate in Pakistan, almost 30 million children are out of school.”

The Arab News report said that the library has been established in the early 1970s and was subjected to neglect as the local administration "had no means to maintain it".

"With a population of nearly 400,000, Tank district is one of the poorest regions of Pakistan. It is part of Dera Ismail Khan division and a gateway to South Waziristan tribal district," noted the reported.

It also said that Tank is facing other development problems, such as a lack of potable water.

Afridi told Arab News that his foundation, apart from working to revamp the education sector will also work to address the clean water issue.

Furthermore, he plans on building a cricket academy in the district, "as the region has matchless talent but no facilities to help its youth flourish".

A former district health officer of Tank, Dr Tahir Javed, told Arab News that he would come to the library with other students in the '70s and had access to the best books and press. He said the people of Tank will remain indebted to Afridi for rebuilding "the once vibrant study centre".

“Thousands of students and newspapers readers will benefit from the library. We’re really grateful to Afridi for this initiative.”