By Deepti Priya Mehrotra
©Women's Feature Service
New Delhi, (Women's Feature Service) -
Once upon a time, there were two princesses who used their resources to buy books and set up libraries. Their brothers, meanwhile, squandered their resources in wars and businesses. Naturally, then, the wise princesses were the obvious choice as "kings" of the land. This was how children from the NGO Samvad, New Delhi, interpreted the story, 'Kaun Banega Raja' (Who will be king).
Samvad and other NGOs like Room to Read, Nirman, Pratham, Mobile Creche and others have been running libraries for children, especially children from low-income households in the rural and urban areas. "I used to think a library means a building with cupboards and books locked in it. But while working in slum and rural areas, I realised we can set up a library anywhere - wherever there are children. We take a set of books, and open these out in parks where children come to play, under a tree or on somebody's staircase," says Zubeida, who works with Pratham, an NGO devoted to literacy and inculcating the reading habit among children from deprived backgrounds.
The Samvad children were performing their play at a two-day national convention on children's libraries. The convention, organised by the Association of Writers and Illustrators for Children (AWIC) and held on April 29-30 in New Delhi, was jointly sponsored by UNICEF, Room to Read and the Department of Culture (Government of India). Over 300 children's librarians, writers, illustrators, teachers, publishers and NGO activists from various parts of the country attended the convention.
AWIC is the Indian wing of the International Board for Books for Young People. Set up in 1981, it is an active forum for the promotion and development of creative literature for children in India.
Surekha Panandikar, AWIC, explains the need for a convention on children's libraries thus: "We wish to spread awareness about the importance of children's libraries. When we began AWIC, we encouraged the setting up of nine libraries. The number has now grown to 90."
These libraries are spread across New Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttaranchal, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and other parts of north India. AWIC provides a seed grant of 150 children's books to NGOs or individuals, and these can be exchanged for new ones as required. "India has some 25 crore (250 million) children in the 6-14 age group, but there are barely a few thousand libraries for children," she adds.
Participant Dinesh Jha from Eklavya, an NGO in Madhya Pradesh, stresses the role of libraries in encouraging reading and creative intellectual development for children. "Books are a starting point. Through books, we share stories, get children to draw, discuss, write on various issues and encourage them to bring out their own magazines."
Mamta, lecturer in SNDT University, Pune, makes another crucial point: "Books should never be locked up in cupboards. Children should be free to read whatever they want. Books can be read aloud, and children can be encouraged to perform plays based on stories or make up their own stories."
The convention itself reflected this spirit. The venue was gaily decorated with prototypes of various innovative libraries, including a 'backpack library', 'library on mats', 'hanging library' (books suspended on ropes), 'railway station library', 'trunk library', 'staircase library' and 'hospital ward library'. Children from a number of NGO-run libraries told stories and jokes, performed plays based on books they had read and sang songs.
There was an awards ceremony, which celebrated people who had contributed to spreading the idea of children's libraries in India. There were two awards for `Best Librarian of the Year', presented to Subhash Gaitond who runs the Delhi Railway Station Library and Preetvanti Mehrotra who runs the children's library at Dayalbagh Mahila Association, Agra. Besides, all 90 librarians associated with AWIC were honoured with a citation and a cash prize for their efforts.
Mehrotra described how she and her volunteers look after each book: "We stitch up magazines if pages come loose and repair each tear lovingly. We never let a book die. If it grows too old, we place it on a higher shelf and reserve it for the reading-room alone. Our children too learn how to take good care of books."
There were also awards for 30 Best Readers of the Year. Most children who received this award were from low-income families: bright-eyed, enthusiastic and immensely talented. Awards were also given out for a book review competition for children that AWIC had conducted earlier.
Writer Sanjeev Jaiswal was honoured as `Best Writer of the Year', and illustrator Sudha Choudhary as `Best Illustrator of the Year'. Subir Roy, one of the judges, believes that illustrations for children must be colourful and imaginative. Children's writer Paro Anand, another judge, says that writing for children must be simple, lucid and very clear.
The convention was also an occasion for the release of a book of 26 folk tales, 'Once Upon A Time', published by AWIC.
The role of such a convention in taking stock and mapping a way for the future was evident in the innovative suggestions that were thrown up: That publishers should write the appropriate age- group on the covers of all children's books to help the selection process; book corners in every classroom; training teachers in maintenance of children's libraries; producing good books in the local idiom and culture.
Fittingly, the convention ended with a set of resolutions that chart the way ahead: Every school, village and slum area must have a children's library set up with the cooperation of government agencies, corporate houses and NGOs. Government policy should facilitate the creation of this vast network, and recognised experts should be engaged for the selection and cataloguing of books. Volunteers and librarians should be trained in the essential requirements for running good children's libraries. Finally, libraries should become a nodal point, a place from which social reform radiates outwards in all directions.
(©Courtesy: Women's Feature Service)
975 words
|
