News, updates and musings about the library, reading and the wider community from members, volunteers and staff
By Priiya Swapn Most of my school life was spent running small errands for akkas in return for dried fish, sleeping in hot sand, following the moon’s orbit in the night, and swimming towards the setting sun hoping to catch it. My school was in the middle of a fishing community and I was mostly […]
By Kamal Gola I studied in government schools throughout where the focus was mostly on studies. After school I would spend a few hours assisting my father with his business. That window allowed me to try reading borrowed newspapers in English. I was greatly influenced by comics in Hindi and had a habit of sketching […]
By Pallavi Shrivastava It’s been close to one year since I started volunteering my time at the Nai Kiran Universal School in my neighborhood in Gurugram, NCR. Initially, my family could not understand why I had to go so often. They said give more time to family and your son. Sometimes they said I should […]
Anshika, age 12, is a young member at TCLP-Sikanderpur, Gurugram. After reading a book about Malala Yousafzai, she felt an ugent desire to reach out to her. This is her letter. Hello Malala ma'am, My name is Anshika and I've read a book on you. After reading the book I felt very happy. When I […]
Hello, I am Vaani Dua, an architect by profession and a teacher by choice. I would like to share with you how I started a small library at my place for the kids in my community and how much is it giving back to me. I grew up in a middle class family where academics […]
Written by Ruchi Dhona Many, many years ago, there lived a princess. She had the most beautiful black hair that anyone had ever seen. When she let her hair loose, they would spread out like the branches of this banyan tree! Everyone praised her beautiful hair, but the princess longed for something else.. And thus […]
Finally, we have a time slot, a fixed time for interaction and story telling time with ladies from the community. Every first & third Wednesday from 11.30am to 12.30. Our first session revolved around introducing ourselves and sharing our aspirations & dreams. The highlight of the session was a story from one of the members, […]
March 10th, 2018, New Delhi. IIHS 'City Scripts' invited TCLP's Mridula Koshy and Goethe Insitut's Thomas Meyer to engage in a discussion on libraries & library movements. What does it mean to operate a community library that caters to first-generation readers? What kind of intellectual and social space can a library be for any community? […]
We packed somewhere close to 150 people into The Community Library Project - TCLP last night for the launch of New Delhi Love Songs—it was a tough census to take, because people were squeezed into so many places. It wasn’t your typical crowd. Yes, there were important members of our literary community—in this photo alone […]
In early 2015, after an email exchange with the coordinator at The Community Library Project - Deepalaya, I found myself attending a read-aloud session on a very pleasant Monday evening. I had stepped feebly into the classroom, unsure, but within minutes felt motivated enough to not leave without having heard the whole story of an […]
