When the panchayat office in Bhaironpur moved into a new building last year, the old room by the pond was locked and forgotten. Today it holds 1,400 books, four reading mats and a hand-painted sign that says "Padho, Badho" — read and grow.
The room is one of 40 "reading corners" set up by a volunteer group of retired teachers and college students across three blocks. Each corner opens for two hours every evening and on Sunday mornings.
"We do not need a big building," said Kamla Devi Prasad, a retired headmistress who started the group. "We need a key, a shelf and someone who turns up every day."
How it works
- Panchayats lend a room free of charge and pay for one light and a fan.
- Books come from donations; a committee of children picks one new title each month.
- College students run the evening hour as part of their community service credits.
- Adults can borrow newspapers and farming magazines; children borrow storybooks for a week.
Attendance has grown steadily. Volunteers keep a simple register, and on most evenings between 25 and 40 people visit each corner, many of them girls in middle school.
The group now wants to add large-print books for older readers and a weekly storytelling session in the local dialect. "The best moment is when a child reads aloud to her grandmother," Ms Prasad said.
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