The district administration of Pachim Bardhaman has come up with a unique provision in the libraries that are being set up in all its panchayats. There is the provision for a mother-children room in all the libraries. It is for all those women who have infants but want to read. This special room will be a separate enclosure, away from public eyes, where mothers can read while the children play with toys available in the room. Around 40 gram panchayats are planning to make it a part of their library project.
One of the officers behind this initiative is District Panchayats and Rural Development Officer ( DPRDO), Mr. Tomojeet Chakraborty, who has taken up the task to build libraries in every panchayat of the district. During a conversation with Indian Masterminds, he talked about how he and his team are motivating every panchayat to build one library in their area, preferably with a special room for mothers.
LIBRARY WITH A DIFFERENCE
When there is any talk about development of gram panchayats, the focus is generally on road connectivity, electricity, school etc. Rarely, priority is given to creating some recreational places where villagers, especially the womenfolk, can spend some quality time with their families. And when there is talk about a recreational place for families, the first thing that comes to mind is a community park.
However, the district administration of Paschim Bardhaman district of West Bengal is going all out to prove that a silent zone and a supposedly serious place like a library can be a family recreational place, too. With progressive and innovative thinking, they came up with the idea to have a separate room in all libraries for mothers with kids. This room will have various toys to keep the kids engaged in play while their mothers read.
“After the pandemic hit the world, the need for libraries became more urgent. Entire educational paradigm is changing, and people need more resources where they can access multiple subjects at the same time. So, we thought of taking up this issue with the panchayats and motivate them to build libraries,” said Mr. Chakraborty.
He mentioned that if Gram Panchayats, Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad take up the library project, books and knowledge will reach the masses. Already 22 panchayats and 3 gram panchayat samitis have taken up this initiative and work is going on.
TWO MODELS
The panchayats bodies have been given two choices: to build a brick-and-mortar library or a mobile library. “We have given them two options. If they don’t have a building, they can use a cart which can move through the lanes of gram panchayat carrying books. Gopalpur gram panchayat under Kanksa block is using the cart model. Our focus is to just create a place where the villagers can easily get books,” said the officer.
The unique thing about the brick-and-mortar library is that there will be provision for a mother-children room. This room will be a separate enclosure where the mother can read while the children play with toys available in the room.
However, this aspect will be missing in the case of the mobile library, as books will be taken on carts through the lanes of the villages.
Mr. Chakraborty informed that the Panchayats are using developmental funds to purchase books. The District Collector and the Panchayat and Rural Development department are also supporting this project by donating books. Three libraries are already functional and 19 more are under construction. The officer is hopeful that in a few months from now, each panchayat will have a library with a variety of books and a special room for mothers as an add-on feature.
