So it is with children who learn to read fluently and well: They begin to take flight into whole new worlds as effortlessly as young birds take to the sky.
Reading is without doubt one of the most important aspects that helps in the true growth of a child. A good book can impact a child in ways that we cannot comprehend. Books allow children to learn, to grow, to imagine, to belong to a world of their own and dream.
Unfortunately though, majority of children in our country do not have access to any kind of books and miss out on such a vital part of growth. Some kids do want to read but just cannot do so as their families have no financial means to purchase books or join libraries. This is especially true in rural areas where there are no libraries to begin with.
During our interactions with our mentorship program students as well as those we assess for scholarships in both rural and urban areas, we realized many of these underprivileged kids do want to read and wish they had access to more books.
Keeping this in mind, Shona Seva Foundation has decided to start a free library for such children. The library will not be a traditional one with a physical location. Instead, this will be a library where mainly teenagers in the program can borrow one book at a time and can return it when they have finished reading. The books will be kept with us either at volunteer houses or at our standard location of operations. Whenever a kid wants a book, we shall go and give the book to him or her.
Therefore we appeal to you to donate any books that you have finished reading and no longer need for our free library for underprivileged children.
When donating books, please keep the following in mind:
1) Books need to be suitable for teenagers – mainly 13 to 18 years old. We need to keep things family friendly.
2) Fiction as well as non-fiction books are welcome.
3) Books need to be in a reasonably good condition. Please do not donate books that are in bad, worn out condition. We need to maintain the dignity of our children.
4) Due to limited resources at our end, we can collect books at Mumbai only at the moment. If you are based outside Mumbai, you can contact us to check how to courier the books to us.
Hopefully with the books you donate, we can cultivate the habit of reading amongst as many underprivileged children as possible and bring genuine joy to their lives.
To contact us for book donation, please click here.