Isha is like any other teenager. She likes to watch movies,
hang out with friends and listen to a lot of music. There is one more thing
that she likes to do – read books. She has read all the books at her home so
she has borrowed from relatives, neighbors and friends. She saves up from her
pocket money to buy more books. But her only complain is that there are not
good libraries around in the locality.
Mr. Ghosh is retired now and most of his morning is spent
with his friends and some light household chores. What he would have really
liked to do in the afternoons is catch up on some reading. He has always loved
books but never found time for them when he was working. Now that he had some
time on hand he longed for a good library in the neighbourhood.
Isha and Mr. Ghosh are not the only ones wishing for the
library. There are loads of growing children whose parents would love to have
them read good books, housewives who want to take some time off their schedules
to curl up with books, office-goers who would be glad to spend their weekend
with their favorite books. Some of them can afford to buy the books while some
can’t.
All agree that they cannot buy all the books that they would
love to read. All agree that that though they can afford to buy books there is
hardly any space for them at home. In short, all agree that what the
neighbourhood needs is a good library.
First problem that immediately comes to mind is the space
needed for the library.
This is perhaps the biggest hurdle to be crossed. It is
difficult but not definitely impossible.
Does your locality have a temple that can spare some
room for housing the books? Approach the temple authorities and find out before
reaching any conclusion. People can be charged a nominal fee for the library
facility and temple authorities can be paid a part of it as rent. If that is
not possible, library users can volunteer for some community work on behalf of
the temple in exchange for the facility provided.
If any resident is allowing use of spare rooms or empty
garage, library can be built there.
Any schools in the area can be approached to rent part
of their space.
If residents are willing to contribute, a monetary
collection can be used to build a low cost small structure in the neighbourhood
park with the permission of the authorities.
Ok, so where will the books come from?
The books will come from the people of the locality, of
course. We Indians do have a tendency of not giving away things even if we are
never going to use them. People have a special attachment for their books. We
have to make them understand that the book will serve its true purpose when it
will be read by many people. We also have to assure them that they are not the
only ones parting from their dear books and that almost everyone in the
neighbourhood is. Everyone almost always has books that he or she does not read
often. These can be donated to the libraries so others can enjoy them as well.
Residents should also think about taking up a small collection on festive
occasions to buy more books for the library. Donations can also be made to mark
a special occasion like a birthday or a marriage anniversary. Cities sometimes
have book fairs where residents can buy books for the library at reduced
prices.
The Membership
People do have a tendency to take away books and never to
return them. Hence a membership card should be issued containing the
subscriber’s photo (If possible), his/her phone number and complete postal
address. The address should be verified with the help of a ration card. The
phone number should be verified too. If it is not possible to have the member’s
photo on the card, his or her photo should be in the library catalogue.
Lost or stolen books
If the book is lost or stolen, a fine amounting to the price
of the book should be charged.
Library Fee
Library fee should be nominal and the amount should be used
for the maintenance of the library as well as purchase of new books or buying
of old books at a reduced price.
Encouraging Donors
To encourage people to donate books, the name of the donor
should be written on the cover or the inside first page of the book. People
should be encouraged to donate to the library on occasions like birthdays or
anniversaries and the library should be made to send the full account of how
the money was used to the donor. To prevent re-selling of the books after such
purchase, the donor’s name should be printed on first, last and randomly on
some of the intermediate pages of the library books.
How to prevent people from just walking in and getting out with some books?
Library can be open only at specific times on working days -
probably in the evenings (for a longer time on weekends and holidays) so that
people can volunteer to see to it that no one without the ID card can walk in
and get away with books. All books should be stamped with the name and location
of the library on random pages. People should be discouraged from buying any
books thus stamped.
Catalogues and library management
Catalogs will be paper based. There can be 3 catalogs – one
for the books, one for subscribers and one for the books lent out. The books
catalog can contain all the information about the book and its donor’s name.
Library can be managed with the help of a network of volunteers drawn from the
Citizen’s group.
People can donate their unwanted books to library and library can add to their catalogue if it is
in a good condition or put in some donation bin from where others who need
those books can take for free or for very nominal prices and this money can be
used for the development of library.
Feedback:
If you have carried out any such project,please write to us about any problems
that you might have faced, solutions and further suggestions.
