Bad libraries build collections, good libraries build services, great libraries build communities.
– R. David Lankes (Professor and Director of the School of Library & Information Science at the University of South Carolina, US)
The aforesaid sentence aptly emphasizes the importance of the library in shaping the future of the nation. Great Libraries build the community and the communities build the nation.
Why libraries in this age of the internet?
Countries with the highest number of people not connected to the internet as of July 2024 (https://www.statista.com/statistics/1155552/countries-highest-number-lacking-internet/)
India has the highest number of population who are not connected to the internet and the number is 644.59 million. This shows the limitation of the internet in the country. Its use is further restricted because of some other factors in the rural areas, especially in the villages in bordering states. Internet is a far cry from our target group children, the invisible child, whether in the rural or in the urban pockets. In such situations, the library is the only effective source of knowledge for our target group and target geography. It will not be an exaggeration to say that Sambhavna-Pustakalay is a tool to provide ‘inter-generational equity’ to our target group children.
The Concept of Child Friendly Sambhavna-Pustakalaya
Our libraries will act as safe havens for young learners to share their thoughts, questions, concerns, findings, and more. A child-friendly library setting strives to create an attentive, accepting space, where students or children can share their views, grievances, and threats with one another openly and feel heard by others.
We further believe that Sambhavna—Pustakalay shall act as a catalyst, propelling the establishment of a Society-based Child Protection Mechanism. The library is the basic component of the multi-pronged project, leading to the creation of a child parliament in schools.
What makes Sambhavna-Pustkalaya a safe place?
The needs and requirements of the target group children are quite different from children in our neighborhood. These children are constantly grappling with the threat of trafficking, illiteracy, child labor, bonded child labor, substance abuse, sexual abuse, child marriage, physical and emotional abuse, and above all but not the least they are neglected. The most important aspect related to Sambhavna-Pustakalay is to make the children aware of the aforesaid challenges and their ramifications. An offshoot of the Smbhavna- Pustakalay reaches out to the sensitization of various stakeholders like Panchayat, local self-government, Police, School Management Committee, etc.
Nature of the Sambhavna- Pustakalaya
A three-tier library
1st tier of the library will consist of books for children up to class Vth which include picture books, books from NBT and other such publishers, short story books, Panchatantra, etc.
2nd tier will consist of books for school-going children from class VI th to 12th and will include Course books and the NCERT books
3rd tier will consist of books for young persons who are planning to take up competitive examinations, State Civil Services examination, UPSC, Banks, etc.
Out-comes of Sambhavna-Pustkalaya
- Inculcate the habit of reading,
- More and more children joining formal Schooling,
- Decrease in school drop-outs,
- Counselling of Children and Youngsters,
- Career Counselling of Youngsters,
- Improved safety and security of children
- Awareness of children towards our constitution and Constitutional values and Laws relating to Children.
- Awareness towards the good touch and bad touch and preparing them to ‘say no’
- Awareness towards prevention of Trafficking, sexual abuse, and various forms of abuse.
