Hanging libraries at govt schools educate children beyond curriculum

Residents from Noida’s Sector 93A volunteering for a local NGO have placed these hanging libraries at six government schools in Noida and Greater Noida

For 13-year-old Sikander, the best part about going to school is getting to rifle through the books of his library, so that he can peep into the worlds brought alive through words and lose himself in the adventures of other children, just like him.

The initiative was started in 2021 by the NGO Books For All (BFA), to address the challenge of lack of space and infrastructure at most schools situated in urban and rural villages. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

But Sikander’s library is no grand old building with wall after wall lined with polished shelves, heaving under the weight of countless books and tomes. For Sikander, it is just a classroom at his government school where over a 100 storybooks have been wall-mounted into a foldable bag.

It is what everyone calls a “hanging library”.

A group of residents from Noida’s Sector 93A volunteering for a local NGO have placed these hanging libraries at six government schools in Noida and Greater Noida and aims to educate children beyond their curriculum through storybooks. The initiative was started in 2021 by the NGO Books For All (BFA), to address the challenge of lack of space and infrastructure at most schools situated in urban and rural villages.

“These students come from families with limited means, and may not have the privilege to read for leisure. The children in these schools have no access to good quality books other than their course books. That has an adverse impact on their learning outcomes. Hanging libraries addresses this shortcoming. The colourfully illustrated books attract students to read and aid learning and understanding and encourage them to write, draw and dream.The idea is to give children access to books which are not part of their curriculum,” said Pravin Bhasin, a resident of Eldeco Utopia society in Sector 93A.

Bhasin began BFA in 2009 by donating storybooks to government school students in Noida’s Gejha village in Sector 93.

In 2021, BFA launched its novel project, ‘hanging libraries’, as there was no need to invest on racks and shelves. The concept began in Noida, with these libraries put up at six schools of Government Primary & Junior School in Sultanpur village in Noida’s Sector 128, Government Primary School, village Gejha; Sarvodaya Vidya Mandir, village Sadarpur; Government Primary School, Bhangel; Green Valley Modern School village Sultanpur and National Education Mission Public School (NEMP) village Gejha.

“Each hanging library has over 100 books on engaging themes, written in the simple language of the region and containing colourful pictures. Bilingual books are also made available as per the need. These books encourage students of all strata to develop a reading habit and increase their vocabulary, knowledge and understanding of the world in which they live and instil good values in them as well,” said Lata Aggarwal, another volunteer at the NGO and a resident of Eldeco Utopia society.

With an aim to install over 100 hanging libraries across the country, BFA began a campaign in March 2021 to gather donors for funding these libraries. “Each library of over 100 books costs about ₹8,000 and we crowd sourced funds through online campaigns. We have now installed 166 libraries in as many villages across 21 states till August 2023,” said Bhasin.

Sikander, who studies at the Government Primary & Junior School and is a resident of Sultanpur village in Sector 128, Noida, says he wants to be writer when he grows up.

“Since last year, after we were introduced to these libraries, I started writing fiction stories in Hindi, inspired by the stories I read. I also write poetry and want to publish my own book some day, just like the ones we read now,” said the class 8 student, whose favourite subject is Hindi.

Aishwarya Laxmi, basic shiksha adhikari (BSA) of Gautam Budh Nagar, said, “The education department appreciates the work being done by the volunteers of Books For All as it helps in the holistic development of students at government schools. The concept of hanging libraries is not only innovative, but also useful for our students as it helps create a library for children, without using as many resources.”