IDUKKI: When was the last time you visited a library? The question would seem a bit outdated for urban people, who scarcely have time to visit a physical library outside their digital devices.
However, inside the wilderness of the Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary in Idukki, children listen to stories read by elders, while youngsters prepare for government exams inside libraries, that serve as a knowledge sharing centre for the tribal people.
Started by the forest department in 2016, ‘Bodhi’ libraries have been helping hundreds of tribal people in 11 settlements inside the sanctuary.
CWC social worker and library coordinator Mini Kashi told TNIE that the department initially started with three libraries to transform the lives of the underprivileged tribal community. “The libraries were started at Chinnar, Alampetty and Iruttala Kudi settlements in 2016. The next year, two more libraries were started at Palapetty and Puthukkudi,” she said.
By 2020, the number of libraries rose to 10, and all of them are affiliated with the Kerala Library Council, Mini further said.
However, the tribal people were not convinced by the idea of community reading in libraries at first. Even children, who largely communicate in their Muthuvan dialect, hesitated to visit the libraries.
“The department made an initiative to tackle this with the support of the educated youths in the settlement. Those who have passed Class 10 from each settlement were appointed as librarians, providing them with a monthly honorarium. Those who can read started read out stories for tribal kids inside the libraries, thereby gradually developing a love for books among them,” she said.
Bodhi libraries have book collections ranging from short stories, novels, historical fiction novels to ancient epics in Malayalam, Tamil and English languages.
“The tribal people love reading Tamil books more. However, we encourage them to read Malayalam as well so that it will benefit the school-going children,” said Mini.
Now, to the question of whether these libraries brought in any changes in the tribe’s life, beat forest officers Mani, Ravi Chandran and Savita, all tribal settlers, are the answers. All of the three prepared for the PSC exams reading the books provided in the libraries.
Mini said there are nearly 25,000 books in the library and none of them were purchased by the department. “Except the books provided by the state library council, the books are sponsored by individuals and organisations upon coming to know about the department’s initiative,” she said.
The library located in Chinnar functions as the pool library, from where collected books will be distributed to the remaining nine libraries. “Apart from sharing knowledge to the tribal community, the libraries also function as a community hub for holding gatherings and events,” she added.