The residents of Thenmala did not have a library in their vicinity till last year. They had to travel all the way to Punalur, to visit a library. Ram Kumar, a Technopark employee who hails from the place, thought of setting up a community library there. He got in touch with P.I. Brijesh, another Technopark employee who is part of an NGO, Tejus. Soon, a book collection drive was organised, with employees from various companies in Technopark and their friends pooling books.
Earlier this year, the community library at Thenmala became a reality, with hundreds of works of fiction and non-fiction and magazines. But, it did not stop as a one-off campaign.
How it works
It was the beginning of a movement, which is now known as ‘Bookathon’.
Over the past few months, the group has set up small libraries in schools like the lower primary schools at Chenkottukonam and Kottur and a community library in Nedumangad, all through book collection campaigns.
“We have a core team of around 55 people, organising book collection drives. The books required will be different for different places. For schools, it is mostly simple story books and general knowledge books. But for community libraries, we collect serious works of fiction. Till now, we have collected 12,386 books mostly through employees of various companies and even through the apartments they stay in. Many of these are second-hand, but some do buy new books based on the requirement. Hands, another NGO, is also part of the initiative,” says Mr. Ram Kumar.
Monitoring too
At schools, they monitor through teachers whether the children are using the books. The students write summaries of the books that they have read, which the teachers send to the team.
They also contribute books to institutions which already have libraries.
25th initiative
On May 19, they are taking up their 25th such initiative, distributing around 600 books to the Central Prison, the Special Sub Jail, and the District Jail.
“Our aim is to collect at least 50,000 books and set up libraries in schools and orphanages,” says Mr. Ram Kumar.
