They are on a mission to spread wide the joy of reading

June 16, 2017 12:40 am | Updated 07:55 am IST - Bengaluru

Children living in the neighbourhood of a primary school and crèche run by city-based trust Sewac-B in Guddadahalli, Hebbal, were pleasantly surprised a year ago when stacks of books were delivered to their premises.

It heralded the birth of a library— a gift by four friends.

Under the banner Nirupa Reading Foundation, city-based Rajni Singh and her friends — Vikram Sridhar, Sindhu Naik, and Kapil Vardhan — started setting up libraries in children’s homes, schools, and old age homes across the city. The initiative began last year, and to date, they have set up three libraries—two in Bengaluru and one in Gurugram (Haryana).

Their plan is to spread the habit of reading in cities across India.

Apart from the crèche, the second library in Bengaluru — christened Twinkle Library — was inaugurated this month at Cheshire Home on Old Airport Road.

Nirupa Reading Foundation, which was registered as a trust in March this year, was started in memory of their friend Nirupa, who died after battling cancer at the age of 36. Nirupa, Ms. Singh, and Ms. Naik met when they were part of Runner Girls India, a all-women runners group in Bengaluru, in 2007. “I introduced Nirupa to Vikram and Kapil and we used to travel together extensively. We were almost like a family,” Ms. Singh says. “Nirupa was very fond of reading. We wanted to keep her memory alive in a constructive way, and that is how the foundation came about. We want to give the gift of reading to underprivileged children and adults through the trust,” Ms. Singh, a 41-year-old software engineer, adds.

The Hebbal library is operated by the crèche staff five days a week for two hours in the evening. The children were asked to come up with a name for the library and it was christened “Happy library”. The library has 500 books, of which 120 are in Kannada and the remaining in English.

“Nirupa Reading Foundation contacted us and set up a well-structured library. Now, at least 20 children visit the library every day from the neighbourhood. We also have a librarian to assist the children,” Shalini Joshi, secretary, Sewac-B, says.

At Cheshire Home, which provides care, treatment, and education support to about 45 physically challenged and visually impaired children, 300 children’s books have already been stacked in a cupboard. Most of the books are pre-owned and donated. “The new books are funded by our friends and relatives. We have not gone for corporate funding as of now,” Ms. Singh adds.

The librarians at the two facilities have been trained and all books are colour coded to match with the children’s reading levels. “We have followed the Hippocampus Reading Foundation’s Grow by Reading Model so that children read books appropriate for their age and reading capacity,” she concludes.

Trust shows visually impaired the path to success

Deepa V. Nayak secured 92% in her SSLC examination. For a student with visual-impairment this is a big feat. A student of Ambubai Residential School for Blind Girls, Ms. Deepa would spend a considerable amount of time after school at Mitra Jothi, a foundation in HSR Layout that assists the visually impaired. Here, she would prepare for her exam with the help of the audio books available at the centre. “The support I received from Mitra Jothi is the reason for my good marks. I used to listen to the audio books and also used their Braille books,” she says.

A charitable trust established in 1990, Mithra Jothi has been behind many such success stories. Madhu Singhal, the founder and managing trustee of Mithra Jothi, is visually impaired herself. “The visually impaired should be respected and should be looked at as equals. We want to bring in this equality through the trust. The real challenge starts once the children are out of schools and they go for higher education. There aren’t much resources available for them. Mitra Jyothi is working towards providing them with study material and other resources,” she says.

The trust runs a digital talking book library with over 2,654 books that are recorded and edited by volunteers. The students can access them by paying ₹15 per CD. They also have a monthly audio magazine which is called Sanchaya . Librarian Lakshmi Narayana Reddy says that they have all kinds of books, including fictions and short stories and adds that they have recorded books even for civil service aspirants.

Mithra Jothi doesn’t just stop with higher education. They also work towards making the students independent and employed. Training is imparted to the students in activities such as cooking, computer, and life skills. Many students have even got placed in reputed companies through the placement cell at the trust. Megana K.I. for instance is working with Cisco.

“Until I was told about about Mitra Jothi, I felt I would never get a job. I was groomed for the interview by the trust and today, I am working as a project coordinator with Cisco,” she says.

This library on wheels visits govt. schools

This library on wheels travels to five government schools in south Bengaluru every Saturday. Stopping over for half-an-hour, the mobile library — Jnana Vahini — offers over 700 books to the children. Started by young working professionals in their mid 20s and 30s six months ago, the mobile library aims to instil the habit of reading among children. Everything from general knowledge books, comics, novels, encyclopaedias, and biographies of famous personalities, the books are available in Kannada and English.

“All the books have been donated, but are in a good condition. I saw immense potential in kids when I worked as a substitute teacher in a government school. So, when one of my friends gave me an Omni car, I decide to use it for the mobile library,” Aman Jain, founder and president of ZAV Foundation, which runs the library, says.

Students of Classes VI to VIII in the government higher primary schools at Ittamadu, Arehalli, Chikkalasandra, and Hoskerahalli are issued borrowers’ card in the school’s name and the list of books is shared with them. The students can keep the books for a week. “Catering to about 3,500 students, we have issued 25-30 cards to each school,” Mr. Jain adds.

“Students of my school have been benefited in numerous ways. The collection of books is quite good. In fact, students have started taking interest in reading,” Vasanthmma, principal, Hosakerehalli Government Higher Primary School, says.

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