Connecting communities with books & love

Attendees of the recent inauguration of a library in Khonoma.

Attendees of the recent inauguration of a library in Khonoma.

23 libraries opened in Nagaland under Project ‘Paper Bridge’ 

Vishü Rita Krocha
Kohima | May 26 

Primarily catering to the geographically and culturally isolated communities, ‘Paper Bridge’, one of the two main projects under Delhi-based NGO called Sarvahitey has opened 23 libraries in Nagaland so far and still counting. 

“We have named this project ‘Paper Bridge’ for a metaphorical bridge that connects all the different cultures and communities of India”, says Prem Prakash, the Co-founder of Sarvahitey while stating that India is such a diverse place with so many ethnicities and languages. “We thought how about we connect all these communities with books and love,” Prakash adds.

Nagaland received its first library at Chingmei village under Tuensang district through this project and within a span of one year, various districts in Nagaland are home to a total of 23 libraries including 11 in Mon, 5 in Kiphire, 2 in Dimapur and one each in Kohima, Khonoma,  Phek, Wokha and Tuensang respectively. Through this project, Prem Prakash says that they plan to open a total of 1,000 libraries with focus on 100 in North East India by December 2020. Altogether the NGO has opened about 100 libraries in different places across the country.

Where there are already existing libraries but underutilized, they rejuvenate them with the sole purpose of promoting the culture of reading, capacity building, digital literacy, awareness on various government schemes, empower women and youth, career counseling and also conduct cultural exchange programmes. 

Expressing belief that libraries are not an expendable resource but do need to evolve with time and specific requirements of the society, he asserts that towards this end, “we first need to provide books and journals that target the specific community and their emerging demands.”

It may be noted that the books for Project Paper Bridge libraries are mostly crowd-sourced wherein regular book donation drives are conducted in Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, and Kolkata and many people have generously come forward with book donations.

After achieving the mark of 1000 libraries across the country, the plan is to have a cultural exchange programme. “Libraries under Project Paper Bridge bear a unique cultural significance - for its pillars are intrinsically focused on sustainability. In the wake of multiculturalism it is essential to forge social-political currents strategically; as careful curation will help in celebrating diversity but also instilling a sense of shared belonging and affiliation”, he elaborates.

When people donate books, the NGO also encourages them to write message on the book, which, he adds, will go a long in establishing that connect which has been missing for decades. In support of the initiative, an American book donor travelled with 40 kgs of books despite having to reduce her luggage by more than half, all the way from the US to India managing to carry with her, 400 books, many of which just recently reached Khonoma and are housed in the newly opened library.

“The way Nagas are responding we will have at least one library in each district. We want to change the reading culture there, and to do that everybody has to have access to books. We dream of a day when every village in Nagaland has a library”, he profoundly expresses.

The other main project under Sarvahitey is Vidya Vistar with its focus area on making education accessible to underprivileged and marginalized children. In Nagaland, these two projects are being implemented by KAL, a group of 3 partners including (Nathaniel) Kevichusa, (Esther) Aye and (Limasenla) Longkumer who are all lawyers by profession in addition to about a team of 7 junior lawyers, in collaboration with the Nagaland State Legal Services Authority (NSLSA). They have also roped in state based NGO- Sophia Foundation that provides soft skills and vocational trainings.

Limasenla Longkumer says that they were very encouraged with the response to the library opened at Dimapur district jail wherein volunteers go there twice a week and read to the jail inmates. “That way, they could break the ice and they started talking about their personal lives and problems, and right now they are asking for new books”, she elatedly adds.

Highlighting about the Vidya Vistar Program, she enlightens that they have been running the educational program since April 2018 at Full Nagarjan Dimapur where they currently teach 50 underprivileged students from mixed communities voluntarily. Besides academic, these children are taught about hygiene, their rights as a child, also about bad touch and good touch, and further also try to bring back school dropouts by providing them tuitions. This activity happens every Thursday, Friday and Saturday.