About a month back for Jyoti Kshirsagar, a sixth standard student of Hutatma Umaji Naik High School in Bhivadi village of Purandar Taluka in Pune district, books essentially meant the school textbooks,. Today, she has read Agnipankh –the Marathi translation of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam’s Wings of Fire and Batayachi Chal by P L Deshpande- thanks to the 200-book library set up in her school by Rural Relations, a city based rural consumer relations organisation.
“This is just one of the eight Gyan Key libraries set up by Rural Relations. These libraries aim at taking good Marathi literature at the doorsteps of rural students and motivating them to develop reading habits,” says Pradeep Lokhande, founder, Rural Relations. The organisation initially provides 180 Marathi books to the library. These include short stories, fairy tales, stories on Indian revolutionaries, books on sports and so on. Some of these include Shyamchi Aai, Allauddin ani Jaducha Diva, Aantar Rashtriya Vividh Khel and Sunita Williams.
The libraries are managed by one of the girl students studying in class VI appointed as the Gyan Key monitor. Students are also encouraged to donate books, regardless of their subject, for the library on their birthdays, says Lokhande.
Jyotsana Patole, Gyan Key monitor of Kamandalu Panchkroshi Secondary School in Asare village in Wai taluka of Satara says, “Three students who had their birthdays last month have already donated books to the library instead of distributing sweets to friends.”
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