Aqui Thami started Sister Library to encourage more people to read books by women authors. Photo Courtesy: Manjeet Thakur/Mid-day
When conducting reading interventions with Bombay Underground in Mumbai, Bandra-based Aqui Thami realised that people would opt to read more books by men than women. In fact, Thami realised some of her most cherished books were also by male authors. So, she decided to do something about it. Photo Courtesy: Nascimento Pinto
Thami took on the challenge of reading books by women for a year and it was her best year of reading till then. Slowly, she started collecting and curating more books by women authors and even recommending it to friends. Every time she lent a book to them, she used to make a note of it and within no time, it became a library. Photo Courtesy: Nascimento Pinto
The Mumbai artist travelled to various cities around India and the world including Dhaka, Auckland and London with her library to interact with like-minded people and visit feminist libraries to learn more about them. In 2019, she started Sister Library in Bandra for people in Mumbai to have access to books by women. Photo Courtesy: Nascimento Pinto
Now, Thami's library has over 1,000 books and 700 zines that delve into various topics on women. Interestingly, before the library came to be, it was a book club where women would read a book, meet and discuss it together. The library also hosts book readings by different authors from time to time, and people can join them any time they want. ;Photo Courtesy: Nascimento Pinto
Even the Covid-19 pandemic didn't stop Thami from continuing her work to encourage more people to read books by women. She started a publication called 'Sister Times' that included poetry, posters and snippets from the book readings; she also started a podcast to talk to other like-minded women around the world. Photo Courtesy: Nascimento Pinto
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