Community Library
The Community Library project was taken up because it provides a space for engagement with the children in the school going age ( 4 years old to 18 years old). This project has been considered to be most apt for engaging with the children as the community library acts as a safe space where children can interact openly without the presence of authoritative figures like parents and teachers.
This engagement is required for understanding the needs and aspirations of the children and what has been the experience of the children, with respect to these needs and aspirations, in government schools.
Library Setup By Us
Pudur, Medchal
Creating a space within the schools for the children to access a variety of books.
Chauharmalnagar, Patna
Turning a community room into a safe space for learning.
About Library
Reading Room – Zilla Parishad High School Pudur
We established a Reading Room in Zilla Parishad High School Pudur (Medchal District) in 2019, This was our first step towards building community libraries.
As a concept, the Reading Room provides infrastructural facilitation and instructional aid to lesser privileged students studying in government schools of rural Telangana. On the infrastructural side, we have established a physical reading room or a library, equipped with basic furniture. On the instructional side, we have provided them with bilingual (Telugu and English) as well as English books in order to engage them in the practice of reading and comprehending simple English texts.
Our aim is to develop their ability to read and understand the English language, as a lack of such ability acts as a hindrance for these students and structurally excludes them from availing various professional opportunities in the future. The most important objective of the Reading Room is to engage these students in a way that is interactive and interesting and which makes them understand things in the simplest way possible.
Chauharmalnagar Vidya Education Center
Following the Reading Room at ZPHS Pudur we had tried to establish community libraries at various other locations but due to the lack of adequate space we were unable to complete the process. In 2022 we finally got a chance to establish a community library in Chuharmalnagar, Patna.
Chuharmal Nagar is a locality belonging to the Dalit Community. A group of boys, who are in varying stages of their studies, started using an abandoned community room for self-study and to teach the younger children. As we started interacting with these boys, it came to our knowledge that they wish to turn the space into a community library. They wanted to do this because neither the children in their community have access to good schooling because of the poor state of government schools nor do they have a suitable environment to study at home. DEVISE through its research arm Sayukti Collective joined hands with this group and we are working to towards formalising the space into a proper community library.