In the first year… (What happened in 2005-06)

• The basic village library bag program was introduced. The bag has a bunch of children’s books and every 2 months a new set of story cards and booklets are added to the library bag to keep the excitement alive. Though it was planned that each month we would supply 8 story cards, this wasn’t done. Instead many more story booklets were prepared and supplied.

• A team to generate and buy children’s materials and supply to each village was put in place.

• NGO partners and Field coordinators in 35 blocks were identified and trained.

• Regular visits to the libraries by Field coordinators and State fulltimers was ensured.

• Village volunteers have been maintaining the book stock and loaning books to children and getting it back. Book transactions are recorded and collected each month from the Field coordinators.

• A monthly newsletter “Oor Kuruvi” was started and is sent to all libraries.

• Every month a state level review meeting is conducted and the status of libraries discussed. Usually the field coordinators are also trained on activities for children – origami, magic show, low cost science experiments, metric mela, etc – which they are expected to conduct in the libraries when they visit. Except when the state coordinators visited and directly did these programs, largely this did not happen.

• A total of 40,000 children are now registered members of this library network and there is a growing interest in starting libraries more widely.

In the Second Year…. (Plans for 2006-07)

• Strengthen the material supply to the libraries. Ensure more story cards and more variety in the materials. Study what children like and want and develop materials accordingly.

• Focus on Activities in the Libraries – Ensure that each library at least has 1-2 activities done each month – metric mela, magic show, toy demo, science experiment, slide show, etc. Organizing more focused training on activities and ensuring the field coordinators do the activities when they visit is an important focus point for this year.

• State wide Event Series every 3 months. The first event series planned is on story writing by children planned at 4 levels – village, block, district and state. The next event series is planned around cartoons and drawing. Another Event Series is on Simple Toys You can Make.

• Eureka Discovery Clubs in each library – where children themselves meet every week and take up projects and activities. To support this, the library team will provide an activity note each month to each library.

• Increase Registration and Usage in each Library: At least 50-100 children must access the library. With 3000 Libraries this will mean at least 1,50,000 children.

• Expansion and Organizational Structure: The first year we just wanted to start the libraries on a large scale across the state. This year we will expand in a more controlled manner.

  • District is the basic unit for the library program. In each district we have 4 kinds of libraries:

    • Libraries coordinated by AID Direct Blocks

    • Libraries coordinated directly by AID District Fulltimers

    • Libraries run by other NGOs and Movements

  • These Libraries will run both in schools by teachers and in villages by village volunteers.

  • The plan is to have a total of 500 libraries in each district. (Instead of working in every district, we have divided the state into 10 district sized zones - each zone has 1-4 districts. It is this zone that will currently function like a district. But ideally we should have a separate coordinator and 500 libraries in every district.)

  • In each district, we will have a district coordinator and form a district resource group interested in children’s education. Every month the district coordinator will visit each block (NGO) and visit about 5-10 of the libraries to monitor its functioning. In addition the district coordinator will organize a monthly district level review meeting to plan the library activities and the Eureka Discovery Club and the Event Series each month. A State fulltimer will also attend this review meeting and visit a few libraries in each district. Every month training on new activities will happen at the district level for the coordinators.

  • With this structure, it is possible to ensure better coordination and ensure that activities and events are organized more regularly.

In the Third-Fifth Years…

• Strengthen the Library and the Eureka Discovery Clubs and ensure sufficient materials are provided regularly and activities and Event Series are organized continuously.

• Identify Special Talents that children have and conduct workshops for them to build these talents. Form teams of children with specific talents and organize events to encourage them.

• Start Spoken English Classes for Children

• Get children run their own programs – magazines, cartoon training camps, craft centers, etc.

• Create Village Level Museums

• Get Eureka Discovery Clubs to take up longer term projects and deeper studies.

• Sensitize children on social issues around us.