Vinod Kumar, a college student, has a new found interest: reading books. Every evening after college, he spends a few hours at a community library in his locality. “There are no public libraries in New Gurappana Palya. Though I wanted to read as a child, books were not easily accessible. The community centre has opened up the world for us. I’m able to read books on varied subjects. This is not possible in the college library,” he said.
For people like Vinod, community libraries are filling up the gap left by the few and scattered public libraries in the city. It is strengthening the habit of reading in children and adults, especially those from vulnerable sections of society.
The Free Software Movement Karnataka, which runs the Ambedkar Community Computer Centre for children in New Gurappana Palya in Sudharshan Layout, started the community library this April.
The centre now not only offers basic computer classes for children in the neighbourhood, mostly in slum pockets, but also makes access to books easier.
“The idea is to encourage students to read more. At the slum we work in, there are many school dropouts. While we were already conducting basic computer classes for them, we thought inculcating the reading habit was equally important,” said Shijil, member of the movement and an IT professional.
The community library has around 300 books, in Kannada and English, mostly funded by Software Freedom Law Centre, New Delhi. And the subject ranges from novels to philosophy, politics, and technology. “We see students coming to the library even when there is no computer class. They sit here finishing their homework and also exploring the books,” said Mr. Shijil. The group plans to organise regular reading sessions.
“We want more and more people from the neighbourhood to start using the library, including adults. We are planning various activities that can be conducted in the library,” he added.
Happy place
Around 20 to 25 children spend two hours every evening for five days in the reading space called Happy Library. Started by city-based trust Sewac-B in Guddadahalli, Hebbal, the library is used by children living in the neighbourhood slum.
“We have been running a primary school and crèche for the children in the area. We found that the children hardly have access to books. We decided to start the library to inculcate the habit of reading,” said Shalini Joshi, secretary, Sewac-B.
There is a trained librarian at the facility and all books are colour-coded to match with the children’s reading levels. “When children move from one level to the next, they are proud of the achievement and that keeps them going,” said Ms. Joshi.
The organisation also encourages mothers to use the library.
“This way, the children also come along. We also conduct reading sessions and storytelling sessions for the children to keep them interested. The community has been very receptive to the library, but we would like more children from the neighbourhood to use the facility,” she added.
Connecting with children
Increasing cases of school dropouts and a few instances of child marriages among the community of rag pickers led Hasiru Dala, an organisation that works on improving the quality of life of ragpickers, to intervene. “We felt we needed to reach out not just to parents, but also children at a young age. And the idea was conceived. It not just a reading space, but also a safe space for children,” said Nalini Shekar, co-founder, Hasiru Dala.
The community library is called Buguri, meaning spinning top in Kannada, and in a year has been able to reach over 60 children and is expanding. The first centre was opened in an old-age home in Banashankari. Hasiru Dala opened another centre in Guddadahalli in Hebbal.
Ms. Shekar said that in the one year, visible changes have been seen in the children using the facility. “We do not conduct any academic activity in the library, but we have seen that the habit of reading has had an indirect impact on their studies. The library is also being used to conduct counselling sessions for teenage girls,” she said.
Lakshmi Karunakaran, who manages the library programme, said that around 60 children visit the library on an average. “Most of the collections are picture books and we have them in English, Hindi, Kannada and Tamil,” she said.
