There is now Growing acceptance of the fact that a country’s social and economic progress greatly depends on its people having access to the vast expanse of knowledge provided by the printed word. This is all the more relevant to a country like India where the youth constitute a sizeable portion of its total population. Economic planners in India have always focused on this vital constituency. Youth power can be harnessed for the country’s development only by providing young Indian with the right dose of education, motivation and exposure to the outside world. In today’s world, uneducated and malnourished workers find little place in productive employment. It is argued that there is little point in putting energy into teaching literacy if there is no follow-up programme to establish reading habits. The Extension Studies Book Programme has highlighted three needs in relation to this: 1) the need to take the books to the people rather than waiting for the people to come to the books, 2) the need to provide books that are easy enough for people to enjoy, and 3) the need for ongoing commitment to the programme. It is argued that the reading habit is not only a missing link between literacy and libraries, but it is a link so vital that at every level from village to university the people are drastically underachieving in their daily work.