Children's Own Library

A reading space for, of and by children wins an award While libraries in the city are struggling to sustain themselves with the advent of the Internet, e-books and podcasts, a library in a village can still prove a crucial window to the world beyond. The children's library started by Child Rights Trust (CRT) Chagalatti village, situated eight kilometres from the International Airport, is proof of how a library can broaden a child's world. That it is managed entirely by the children of the village is an additional feather in its cap. Top of the heap The library was last week given an award by the Hippocampus Reading Foundation (HRF) as the “best library in a community centre”. The foundation has also donated a large number of English books to the library and trained children in library maintenance. Various genres Chagalatti village (called “chocolate” by its residents!) is the only library within a 15-km radius, explains Nagasimha Rao of CRT. It has over 1,700 books in English and Kannada, covering a wide variety of genres including fiction, non-fiction and reference books.