How this Navi Mumbai resident revived a library so children could continue reading

Such was Vijaya Hariharan's love for her local library that when its owners decided to move on in 2017, she stepped in and kept it open. The neighbourhood's lone yet impressively large library had come as a saviour for the Belapur resident and independent travel consultant, back when her son took a liking to reading books more than a decade ago. The membership excused her having to regularly buy expensive books for her speed-reading child.

"When the previous owners sent a message to all the members telling us she was leaving and if anybody wanted, they could take over, I jumped in. Within a day I decided to take over without anything in my pocket. Then I started the struggle of putting the funds together and purchased it in 2019," She explains. "I had a fear that if nobody took over, the library would shut down permanently."

After the pandemic interlude
Hariharan makes it clear that the library isn't a profit-making enterprise but more of a social service - it is her way of doing what she can for the community. Her desire to run it stemmed from how much development she has seen in her 15-year-old son over the years since he first started reading. After the Mumbaikar took over, she renamed the library to ‘Turn A Page' from ‘Just Books' in 2019, and the pages have surely been turning. Currently, the library stretches across 1,500 square feet, houses close to 18,000 books and has 300 members.

The library stretches across 1,500 square feet, houses close to 18,000 books and has 300 members. Photo Courtesy: Nascimento Pinto

The pandemic years, however, dealt their fair share of blows. Memberships were close to 500 before it. Many people returned to their hometowns or ended their membership over fears that they would get Covid from contact with books that others had touched. Some of the older members even passed away. "There is an old age home nearby and five-six of their residents used to visit us, pick up a book on their walk and return. Unfortunately, some of them passed," says a teary-eyed Hariharan, while reliving how she shared many conversations about their lives, sickness, Covid-19 and treatment.

Building a library for children
Even though Hariharan is sad about the loss, she finds hope in the children who have been coming back. It is visible in the fact that there is a steady stream of children who enter the library with their parents or siblings, as we speak to her, on a weekday. While some sit down to read, others scan through the many titles in the children's section to pick a book. On occasion, Hariharan even suggested a few books for a young reader, who wasn't sure what he should read next. Books by Sudha Murthy are currently a huge favourite among children, she tells us, along with Enid Blyton and David Walliams. As far as books and comics are concerned, Geronimo Stilton, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Amar Chitra Katha and even Archies are picked up regularly. Members are greeted by handwritten notes on every wall with interesting quotes or instructions about using the services of the library.

The visiting children are clearly a sight for Hariharan's sore eyes. She explains, "Post-Covid, many parents complained saying they had purchased the Kindle for their children but they weren't able to read on it. There were no pictures to hold their attention. Their screen time also increased because they were doing their school on screen, watching movies on the screen and weren't going down to play. So, everybody was happy when the library opened." During the pandemic, she says the library even gave all its members double the number of books because they didn't think it would last so long and that the readers would have something to keep them occupied for about a month. "We gave extra comics to children and were emptying the library. We thought, ‘What would the children do at home?," she adds. Her own son took 25 books one day before the lockdown, when they were giving books to people.


Members are greeted by handwritten notes on every wall with interesting quotes or instructions about using the services of the library. Photo: Nascimento Pinto

However, she feels like parents need to do more because reading should be an essential part of a child's day. "If you give a book to the child, they will sit down in a chair and not move from there," she says. Even as parents complain that children are always in front of the television or mobile screen, the fact that they don't do anything about it irks her. "They don't take the mobile from their hand, and hand them a book instead. They prefer spending Rs 500 at the mall but don't want to invest in a library membership of Rs 400 that will get them 20-30 books a month," she laments.

Even though her library sees a 50-50 membership of children and adults, Hariharan iterates that getting more children into reading is her aim. "There is a lot to learn from books. Children will learn empathy, manners and even how to deal with bullying. It helps the child learn and think alternatively. I see that in my child," says Hariharan. Even with the recent rise in Covid cases, Hariharan hopes she can host creative writing and storytelling workshops, treasure hunt games, book readings, author and book club meets with the members as soon as possible to make the space as lively as she can on any given day for the residents of Navi Mumbai.