Library in Palghar: Learning space created by the people, for the people

A small library space for the tribal villagers in the Ambedhe village. Pic/Anagha Sawant

"Sometimes I read books kept in the library and try to gain knowledge as much as I can," says 28-year-old Sunil Guhe, a fifth-grade dropout, who offered his small piece of land and an electricity connection from his house to set up a community hall and library space for the local villagers.

Made up of bamboo, branches of trees, coloured with mud, and Warli painted by the locals, a community hall turned into a small library space for the tribal villagers in the Ambedhe village located in Maharashtra's Palghar district, is setting an example for nearby villages.

Like Guhe, many other dropouts as well as young villagers who are still pursuing their education, visit the library set up inside the community hall to study as well as read books during their free time. Over 100 donated books and novels in three different languages - English, Hindi, and Marathi, are kept in the bookshelves for the villagers to spend their quality time reading.

Pic/Goonj

According to the locals, the community hall is not only useful for the villagers to conduct meetings but also benefits the students in improving their educational quality. "From first-grade students to the ones preparing for their master's, all enjoy studying in this space created for them and by them," said Ravi Parhad, a villager.

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This common hall built for three nearby villages - Ambedhe, Somate, and Barhanpur, helps around 30 students from these villages, including a few girls to have their own study space.

Ravi Wartha, who is pursuing his MA, said, "Many times, we don't get our own space at home to study in a peaceful environment. There is a lot of distraction since there are family members around performing their daily chores. Visiting the library along with friends, not only motivates us to participate in peer learning but there is an undisturbed environment. I can easily concentrate on my studies."

Pic/Goonj

Speaking about why he offered his piece of land for this cause, Sunil Guhe, said, "This place is helping to build a better future for youngsters residing in this and nearby villages. I was not able to study further due to financial issues, but the books kept on the shelves motivates me to read. It is helping to cultivate the reading habits among us."

"Studying alone at home feels boring. In this space, the youngsters sit together, have fun, teach each other, and study together. It makes learning simple, easy, and fun," added Ravi Parhad.

While earlier, the village meetings were organised outside in the open in this village, Goonj, who works in the social sector, motivated the villagers to solve the locally neglected issue. The youngsters came together to build a community hall.

"Around 40 families participated in building the center within a fortnight. The space has been set up with waste out of the best materials. All interior materials used such as tables, sofas, chairs, TV, cabinets, and books, to name a few have been donated by the common public. This helps around 30 students to have their own reading space," said Pravin Guhe, another villager.

Many times, in the evenings, a local teacher conducts free tuition classes to guide the students in pursuing different careers. While a few aims to complete MA, and B.Ed to pursue their career as a teacher, or professor; a few others get enrolled in different ITI courses.

Sunil Parhad, a teacher who teaches in a private college is among the local villagers who contributed to building this space.

Sunil said that the library is helping a lot of students to do group discussions and peer learning. "It is a great place to bond with the villagers. Earlier the students visited my house to resolve their doubts and for last-minute revision before the exams, but now this dedicated study place, is helping all students to gather together and sort each other's study-related doubts and bring all of them together under one roof," he added.

Speaking about the objective of building community centers in rural areas, Meenakshi Gupta, co-founder of Goonj, said, "Our work around creating these Village Community Centers in Maharashtra and other parts of India, is a noteworthy example for the world for three reasons; The foundation of this work is an urban waste. The underutilised household material from the cities like Mumbai which we use to mobilise and empower rural communities to take constructive collective action for their issues. That's a first of its kind across the world. Secondly, these centers are made completely by the locals for themselves, without any external monetary payments, resources, or expertise. It tells us about their potential and knowledge."

Gupta further added, "Thirdly, these Community Centers highlight the issue of shrinking community spaces in urban and rural landscapes and show how rural communities have wisely built inclusive nature-friendly solutions for this need. In times to come, we hope this community not only takes more initiative for its own problem-solving but also inspires and teaches other neighboring communities to do the same. That would tell us that our work here is done."