Karnataka Plans to Refurbish 5,600 Panchayat Libraries; Expand Young Minds through Reading Culture

Karnataka Govt. has decided to revamp around 5,600 rural libraries of the state and stock them up with educational stuff in Kannada and other languages.

The initiative is being taken by the Karnataka Panchayati Raj Department. The major viewpoint of this project is to support education through these libraries in unprecedented times like COVID-19, which has disrupted the normal schooling pattern.

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Principal Secretary of Panchayati Raj Development, Uma Mahadevan said, "The department is closely working for its curtailment. We wanted to support the interest of school children in rural areas and hence decided to activate the Gram Panchayat libraries as a way to support reading and learning."

Enrolment Procedure

All the school children falling under the age group of 6 to 18 years, will be enrolled as a member of these Gram Panchayat Libraries. The Panchayat will also pay a small deposit for enrolling the students.

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Precautionary Protocols to be Abided

• In order to follow the precautionary protocols in the new normal condition of COVID-19, sanitization facilities will be provided at the entrance of each library and free of charge masks will also be provided to the students. 
• Abiding the social distancing norm, the panchayat has decided to allow only two or three children at a time in the library.

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• Till the COVID-19 panic lasts, the libraries will be open for lending books only. However, once the situation normalizes students can spend time and read books inside the library.
• To identify a suitable place where students can read the books, the Gram Panchayat-level Village Education Task Force has been appointed.
• To minimize the contact between the library staff and the students, acrylic sheets will be placed at the counters.

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Will the returned books be safe to be borrowed again?

To make sure that other students can re-borrow the books, the Panchayat has decided to quarantine the returned books for three days i.e 72 hours, which will minimize the transmission effect of the pandemic.

Library Schedule

The Panchayat libraries will be operating at a fixed time and students will be briefed on which books are available? How long can a book be borrowed? And accordingly, students will be allowed to browse and select books.

The department will soon conduct a book donation drive starting from Bengaluru and then maybe take it further to other cities like Mysore, said Mahadevan.

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Volunteers and Contributors

The Panchayat has invited college students to volunteer and each volunteer will have to identify the readable books and pack them for panchayats. Several non-profit organizations like Pratham Books, Sikshana Foundation, Azim Premji Foundation have stretched their contribution.

The department also aims to create storytelling videos in collaboration with Bangalore Storytelling Society. Fun science classes are also to be initiated in these libraries, in collaboration with Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti (BGVS).

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