Kathmandu, July 18 -- This spring, for a brief moment, people did.

It was not because a new library had opened or because people had rediscovered reading. It was because one of Kathmandu's oldest public libraries had been padlocked.

On April 13, the government shut down the Kathmandu Valley Public Library in Bhrikutimandap, the capital's exhibition centre, managed by the Social Welfare Council. The council argued that the library had failed to pay around Rs30 million in rent.

The closure prompted an unusual public conversation.

Researcher Pratyush Onta wrote on X on May 15: "It looks like the Kathmandu Valley Public Library is going to be closed permanently. If you can't innovate to financially support the largest public library in ex...