Journal

“Libraries are life-changing, and they can be lifelines too. I owe much to the libraries of my childhood, and it is my earnest belief that every single child should have access to a free library that will inspire, thrill, comfort, and teach her.At 39, I belong to a generation of people whose choices and trajectories have […]

“When you get into farming, you learn to look at the bigger picture, not focus only on short-term goals but understand how your decisions today impact the long term-future. I believe all of us need to play our part in leaving the planet a better place for the future generation. That is our legacy. I […]

Madhumita Rajan, core group member of Free Libraries Network - FLN writes about the state of public libraries and the need for policy in Citizen Matters. "The Delhi Public Library charges Rs 25-100 as an annual membership fee. The State Central Library in Jayanagar, Bangalore charges 200 as lifetime membership fees. The State Central Library […]

"Needless to say, the largest impact of the pandemic has been borne by those who have been historically excluded from reading and educational pursuits. To understand this historical exclusion, it is important to critically investigate the structures and systems through which it is translated - the structures of caste, class, gender, language, and race that […]

A note on an introduction of the work of TCLP: Sometime back I was reading an article titled “Unpacking a Library: Babasaheb Ambedkar and his World of Books'', where Ambedkar said, “that workers must think beyond their status as workers and acquire political self-knowledge.” I found it extremely important because having a political self knowledge […]

Free Libraries Network (FLN) organized an Open House on library practices to facilitate a participatory discussion. This report has been documented by Poonam, Library Facilitator (FLN Member, Maharashtra) Report on Open House Library Practices Q & A  Date: 15th January, 2022 Time: 2.00 to 4:30 PM  Duration: 150 minutes Participants: 53 Free Libraries Network (FLN) […]

पढ़ना सोचना है...! आप पूंछेंगे कैसे? तो ज़रा सोचिये कि जब हम किसी चीज़ के बारे में लिखा देखते हैं, या पढ़ते हैं तो उससे संबंधित चित्र, विचार, कल्पनाएं तरह-तरह की बातें मन में उमड़ने लगती है। बिना किसी कि परवाह किये हम उस बात के प्रति अपना ही दृष्टिकोण या नज़रिया रखने लगते हैं। मगर […]

चीज़ो को ऑनलाइन करना क्या उन लोगो का अधिकार छीनना हैं जो डिजिटली साक्षर नही हैं और जिनके पास साधन नही हैं? कॉविड-19 के दौरान जहाँ सारी चीज़े - पढ़ाई से लेकर काम तक सब ऑनलाइन हो गयी है! क्या भारत जैसे देश में सभी चीज़ो को ऑनलाइन करना सही हैं? क्या सच में भारत […]

सिम्पी शर्मा, टीसीएलपी स्टूडेंट कौंसिल (विद्यार्थी परिषद) की प्रतिनिधि हैं। हाल में ही आई. एफ. एल. ए. संस्थान (इंटरनेशनल फेडरेशन ऑफ़ लाइब्रेरी अस्सोसिएशन्स एंड इंस्टीटूशन्स, व गेटे इंस्टिट्यूट डोईच लर्निंग प्रोग्राम / Goethe-Institut-Deutsch lernen program) में भारत से दो इमर्जिंग इंटरनेशनल वॉइसेस (उभरती हुई अंतर्राष्ट्रीय आवाजें) चुने गए, जिनमे से एक सिम्पी हैं। लॉकडाउन की […]

TCLP's Student Council member Simpy Sharma was chosen as one of the two Emerging International Voices from India for the IFLA – International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions and Goethe-Institut-Deutsch lernen program. On completion of the project she wrote about her learning, and experiences while setting up TCLP's digital library platform Duniya Sabki. It […]

Where do you live?OH! Slots are not available in the lab It’s urgent!Your location is not on our map But it’s urgent and my right too You the people living on the peripheryDo not dare to ask and claim for things and rights But it’s my right to life and access to healthcare!Things which belong […]

हम जो करते हैं उसमें से बहुत कुछ विरोध पर आधारित है। हम इस विचार का विरोध करते हैं कि साहित्य से जुड़ने का अधिकार समाज के बस कुछ एक हिस्सों को ही है। हम उन प्रथाओं का विरोध करते हैं जो पुस्तकों तक की पहुंच का अधिक्रम बनाए रखती हैं, हम पुस्तकालय की एक […]

A lot of what we do is based on the act of resistance.  We resist the idea that only a certain section of society has the right to literature. We resist practices that maintain hierarchies of access to books, we resist the image of a library as populated and defined only by its books and […]

किसी भी लाइब्रेरी में पुस्तकों को कैटलॉग करने का काम बहुस्तरीय होता हैऔर उन परतों, यानि अलग-अलग स्तरों, के भीतर छिपी विशेषाधिकार और पूर्वधारणा, शुरुआत में अक्सर नज़र नहीं आते हैं। थोड़ी गहराई से देखें, तो फिर एक लाइब्रेरियन के हैसियत से आपको ऐसे सवालों का सामना करना पड़ता है जो सामान्य कैटलॉगिंग की तुलना […]

On July 22nd, 2020 we at The Community Library Project (TCLP) were part of ~100 signatories, who sent the Delhi Government  an email with the subject “Relief for Non-PDS Cardholders: Joint Letter from Non-Government/ Civil Society Groups”.  Now, TCLP is following it up with a Justice Doctrine for Delhi’s Citizens which can be found in […]

TCLP लाइब्रेरियों में किताबों को कैटलॉग करते समय हमारे सामने अक्सर सवाल उठ खड़े होते हैं। जैसे, क्या किसी किताब को 'पिक्चर बुक्स'/ ‘चित्र पुस्तक’ सेक्शन में जाना चाहिए, या 'फिक्शन ईज़ी', यानी 'आसान कहानियों', वाले सेक्शन में जाना चाहिए।या, अगर कोई पाठक किसी ख़ास लेखक की किताबों की तलाश में होता है, या अपनी […]

When I first moved to this neighborhood, I wasn’t aware that there was a community library close to home. As I came to the library for the first time with a friend I noticed a Sir doing a read aloud. I sat down to listen to a story. Later I realized I could take books […]

कुछ साल पहले जब मैं शिफ्ट हुआ, तब मुझे अपने घर के पास की कम्युनिटी लाइब्रेरी के बारे में पता नहीं था। मेरे एक दोस्त ने मुझे लाइब्रेरी के बारे में बताया और एक दिन हम वहाँ पहुंच गए- एक सर कोई कहानी सुना रहें थे जो सब दिलचस्पी के साथ सुन रहे थें। तो […]

Cataloging of books is multilayered, and hidden within those layers are privileges and prejudices that might be invisible at first instance. Look deeper and as a librarian you are faced with questions that are trickier than general cataloging of books. Should religious texts be classified as non-fiction, as they largely are all over the world? […]

We have found that cataloging the collections in our TCLP libraries can be challenging. On numerous occasions we have questioned whether a book should go in the Picture Books section or should it be classified as Fiction Easy. How do we make information easily available to readers, who look for books by specific authors or […]

आजकल, मैं अक्सर विशेषाधिकार के बारे में सोचती हूँ।  विशेषाधिकार या विशेष अधिकार का मतलब हुआ — किसी एक व्यक्ति के पास किसी अन्य व्यक्ति के मुकाबले अधिक अधिकारों का होना। मैं अमेरिका के मिनेसोटा राज्य से हूँ, जहां एक महीने पहले ही जॉर्ज फ्लॉयड नामक एक व्यक्ति की पुलिसकर्मी ने हत्या कर दी। इस […]

I’ve been thinking about privilege a lot lately. I’m from Minnesota, where a month ago George Floyd was murdered by the police, launching a long-overdue conversation about race and racism and privilege. I’ve been reading, thinking, advocating, and talking with friends and family about privilege. I’m trying to come to terms with my privilege and […]

आज का दिन कुछ बोरिंग सा था मैंने इस बोरियत को दूर करने के लिए किताबों  के ढेर से आखिर एक किताब को ढूँढ ही लिया जो मेरी बोरियत को दूर करने में मेरी मदद कर सकती थी किताब का पहला पन्ना जिस पर बहुत ही खूबसूरती से लिखा था "दुनिया सबकी" - सफ़दर हाशमी […]

TCLP runs free community libraries in Delhi and Gurugram. Our collection comprises of books for children, young adults, and adults in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and English. This is a selection of our most popular titles for children. It has been put together by TCLP librarians, in no particular order. Putul & the DolphinBy Mariyam Karim-AhlawaIllustrations: […]

Facilitated by: Ruchi Dhona (Let’s Open a Book)Module designed by: ArtSparks FoundationProject Site: The Community Library Project Introduction It had been a while since I was looking for an inclusive art based intervention which would create an environment in which every child would thrive. This search led me to Artsparks Foundation's EdSparks Collective programme. ArtSparks Foundation […]

It's here! The official music video for 'Kitabein Bolti Hain' - the library anthem. Written & Performed by: DEAN SWAG & Kranti KEProduced by: Famous Hona HaiShot by: Himanshu VermaLocation: TCLP-Sheikh Sarai Check out the video here

स्पीती घाटी हिमाचल प्रदेश का एक ठंडा ,रेगिस्तान-पर्वतीय क्षेत्र है। समुद्र तल से ३,८०० मीटर की ऊँचाई पर स्थित होने की वजह से  इस जगह को दुर्गम माना जाता है। साल में से लगभग ८ महीने यहाँ बर्फ होती है। हमारी संस्था ‘लेट्स ओपन ए बुक’ यहाँ के सरकारी प्राथमिक स्कूलों में नि:शुल्क पुस्तकालय स्थापित कर रही हैं।  काज़ा स्पीती व्हॅली का व्यावसायिक केंद्र हैं। काज़ा का सार्वजनिक पुस्तकालय एक तालुका पुस्तकालय हैं जिसे साल १९८४ में स्थापित किया गया था। यहाँ की पुस्तकालय अध्यक्ष श्रीमती छेरिंग डोलमा के आग्रह पर हमारी टीम ने यहाँ के लिए एक योजना बनाई, जिससे इस पुस्तकालय को एक स्वच्छ, सुंदर और पढ़ने के लिए आकर्षक […]

कई साल पहले, एक राजकुमारी हुआ करती थी। राजकुमारी के बाल ऐसे काले, सुंदर थे की जैसे पहले कभी किसी ने नही देखे थे। जब वह अपने बाल खुले छोड़ती थी,तब वे बरगद के पेड़ की शाखाओं की तरह फैल जाते! सभी लोग राजकुमारी के सुंदर बालों की तारीफ करते थे, लेकिन राजकुमारी का दिल कुछ और चाहता था… और इस तरह हमारा कहानी सुनने-सुनाने का सत्र शुरू हुआ। एक पुराने बरगद के पेड़ के नीचे बैठकर लगभग सौ चेहरे विस्मय से सुंदर, काले बालोंवाली राजकुमारी की कहानी सुन रहें थे। पहले तो वे समझ नहीं पा रहे थे की राजकुमारी अपने सुंदर, लम्बे बालों को लेकर परेशान क्यों होगी। लेकिन जैसे कहानी […]

"भय!” जी हां, सही सुना आपने - डर। जो दुनियां में हर व्यक्ति कहीं न कहीं अपने अंदर लिए घूम रहा हैं। सच पूछिए तो ये डर कब, कैसे, कहाँ से उसके अंदर आ कर इतना बड़ा हो जाता हैं कि व्यक्ति डर के आगे स्वयं को ऐसी मानसिकता से जकड़ लेता हैं कि वह […]

14th November 2019. Children's Day. A turning point for TCLP, as our first generation of student leaders sat down for a no-holds-barred conversation about the #FreeLibraryMovement. They minced no words presenting a strong case for community libraries that welcome all. They shared deeply personal experiences to illustrate how path breaking a free library can be. Here's […]

कुछ समय पहले मैंने बाल साहित्य पर आयोजित एक समारोह में भाग लिया था। इस समारोह का आयोजन रवींद्र भवन गोवा, जो कि एक सरकारी संस्था है, और कोंकणी भाषा के उन्नति के लिए काम करने वाली एक एन. जी. ओ., कोंकणी भाषा मंडल ने मिलकर, गोवा के मड़गांव में किया था। आमतौर पर मुझे […]

मेरी नज़र में हिंदी टीचर वह है जो बच्चों को उनकी कक्षा के स्तर तक लाने में सहायक होते हैं। मगर इसके साथ साथ कक्षा की चुनौतियाँ, जैसे बच्चों की संख्‍या, आयु, इतियदि सामने आती रहीं, जिसमें बच्चों को उनके स्तर की किताबें पढ़ने में काफ़ी कठिनाई होती थी।  इसके शायद कई कारण हो सकते […]

Why does the Free Library Movement matter and what is it all about? From the inspiring role of librarians to misplaced intentions of do-gooders, library activist and TCLP Trustee Ritika Puri draws from real life experiences in this series. A sneak peek into what happens in our libraries.

Nine of them squatted in a circle. Our library members aged 9 – 13. Each one of them had a message to deliver. They stood up in turns, faced the imaginary audience and spoke about gender, rights, consent, and sexual health. It was Anju’s turn. “Parivar ek tarah ke nahi, kai tarah ke hote hai. […]

Spiti Valley is a cold desert mountain region. Located at an altitude of 3,800 mts above sea level, it is considered inaccessible by many. The place is cut off for almost 8 months in a year. Let’s Open a Book is currently working with over 25 government primary schools in this area, helping them set […]

Tushar pushes against weight. He might be eight or nine years old, wiry, muscled. He has a large head with lashes of disproportionate length, even for his large eyes. He insists he will read “this book,” and only “this book.” On this day, “this book” is the thickest of the volumes in the Harry Potter series […]

By Aditya Mani Jha Held at TCLP - Agrasar Ace journalist Neha Dixit visited TCLP-Agrasar yesterday, and held a masterclass for the attending children (and some adults as well!). Neha’s award-winning longform stories have been published in The Caravan, Outlook, The Wire and several other leading Indian publications. From the outset, it was clear that this was going to […]

By Priiya Swapn Most of my school life was spent running small errands for akkas in return for dried fish, sleeping in hot sand, following the moon’s orbit in the night, and swimming towards the setting sun hoping to catch it. My school was in the middle of a fishing community and I was mostly […]

By Kamal Gola I studied in government schools throughout where the focus was mostly on studies. After school I would spend a few hours assisting my father with his business. That window allowed me to try reading borrowed newspapers in English. I was greatly influenced by comics in Hindi and had a habit of sketching […]

It’s been close to one year since I started volunteering my time at the Nai Kiran Universal School in my neighborhood in Gurugram, NCR. Initially, my family could not understand why I had to go so often. They said give more time to family and your son. Sometimes they said I should concentrate more on […]

Anshika, age 12, is a young member at TCLP-Sikanderpur, Gurugram. After reading a book about Malala Yousafzai, she felt an ugent desire to reach out to her. This is her letter. Hello Malala ma'am, My name is Anshika and I've read a book on you. After reading the book I felt very happy. When I read […]

Hello, I am Vaani Dua, an architect by profession and a teacher by choice. I would like to share with you how I started a small library at my place for the kids in my community and how much is it giving back to me. I grew up in a middle class family where academics […]

Many, many years ago, there lived a princess. She had the most beautiful black hair that anyone had ever seen. When she let her hair loose, they would spread out like the branches of this banyan tree! Everyone praised her beautiful hair, but the princess longed for something else.. And thus began our storytelling session. […]

Finally, we have a time slot, a fixed time for interaction and story telling time with ladies from the community. Every first & third Wednesday from 11.30am to 12.30. Our first session revolved around introducing ourselves and sharing our aspirations & dreams. The highlight of the session was a story from one of the members, […]

March 10th, 2018, New Delhi. IIHS 'City Scripts' invited TCLP's Mridula Koshy and Goethe Insitut's Thomas Meyer to engage in a discussion on libraries & library movements. What does it mean to operate a community library that caters to first-generation readers? What kind of intellectual and social space can a library be for any community? […]

We packed somewhere close to 150 people into The Community Library Project - TCLP last night for the launch of New Delhi Love Songs—it was a tough census to take, because people were squeezed into so many places. It wasn’t your typical crowd. Yes, there were important members of our literary community—in this photo alone […]

In early 2015, after an email exchange with the coordinator at The Community Library Project - Deepalaya, I found myself attending a read-aloud session on a very pleasant Monday evening. I had stepped feebly into the classroom, unsure, but within minutes felt motivated enough to not leave without having heard the whole story of an […]

I first came across the Community Library Project through a social media post. I was interested and asked Purnima for more information. The first thing she told me was that becoming a volunteer requires a serious level of commitment. Although I was unsure how much time I could commit, I decided to give it a […]

By Kitty Chevallier The English-Hindi Conversation Exchange project is one of the library’s newer undertakings. As the name suggests, the aim of the programme is to develop and encourage a two-way language learning process, in which all parties can improve their confidence and fluency in producing and understanding language – be that spoken English, or […]

मृदुला कोशी के इस इंटरव्यू में वह एक बात कह गयी जो मेरे ज़हन में बैठ गयी (8.20 मिन) : "हमारा देश इतना विशाल है, लेकिन अभी भी इसमे सैंकड़ो लोग हैं जो अपनी किताब, अपनी कहानी नहीं लिख रहे हैं." अगर हम पूछे कि वो सैंकड़ों किताबें कहाँ हैं और वह ताक़ सूनी क्यों पड़ीं है, […]

By Priyanka Sancheti When I first started volunteering at the Community Library in June last year, what struck me was how the library emphasised on telling stories through multiple mediums; books were of course the obvious and immediate points of access but there were so many other ways to encounter the fascinating of stories. I […]

This summer, for the second year, The Community Library Project ran an intensive summer reading camp for children in the Khirki Extension/Jagdamba Camp/Sheikh Sarai area. The morning session for 8-12 year olds was run in collaboration with the NGO Swechha and was held at their Khirki Extension offices. The afternoon session for 12-15 year olds […]

The Community Library Project is dedicated to the idea that all people should have access to libraries and books. Observations and reading fluency assessment data collected over the past two years indicates that although most of our younger members can read, few can read very well, even in their native language, Hindi. (The following paragraphs […]

Read Aloud session is one of the foundational programmes of our community library project. Read Alouds focus not just on reading a story out loud to the children present but also to engage everyone in creatively engaging with, and discussing the various dimensions of the story. Read Alouds enhance one’s ability to read and listen […]

The community library came to me unexpectedly in 2016. I was in the metro with my friend and asked him if there were any free libraries near us because I was fed up of reading books on my phone. I didn’t have money to enroll as a member in a paid library or buy every […]

Of the people, by the people, and for the people -- it’s the simplest, cleanest, easiest-to-remember definition of democracy. These days, I often think back to my school civics book. On the first page was printed the preamble to the Constitution. I have to confess here that I often feel guilty for not having read […]

What is the Community Library’s Core Team? The Community Library Project’s Core Team has six members—five of them are from the library community, and one is a volunteer. The Core Team was formed recently, modeled on an idea of Mridula Koshy. She brought us all together to carry out a very important responsibility. Our library’s […]

The Community Library Project at Deepalaya has been serving more than 1400 members since 2015. The numbers (no matter how gratifying they look) aren't enough when we compare them with the number of citizens who have no access to a functioning library of their own. There is an urgency involved in building more libraries. We, […]

Although our libraries are situated inside communities, engagement with members’ families has so far been at a minimum. Our Community Organizer, Mridula says, “Our library members and their families and the many thousands of others who live in the mostly informal settlements in and around our library have every reason to be wary of institutions. […]

जब प्यार केवल एक शब्द ही नहीं संरचना का आधार हो। 'लाइब्रेरी' शब्द का अर्थ यदि किसी कोष में जाचें या फिर इस शब्द को सुनने पर अपने दिमाग को जो समझ आये वह है - एक कमरा या एक बिल्डिंग जिसमें ढेर सारी किताबें अलमारियों में सजी पड़ी हैं। सोच को यदि और आगे […]