Libraries@17000ft - aimed at improving reading skills of children in schools that are hard to reach |
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Libraries@17000ft - aimed at improving reading skills of children in schools that are hard to reach |
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At 17000 ft, we believe that a school Library is not a collection of books, but a means of helping young students to improve their reading and consequently their academic performance. A Library in a remote region like rural Ladakh becomes all the more important to these 1st generation learners due to lack of availability of any other source of information like TV, Internet or even the mobile. Given the remoteness of the villages of Ladakh, any interventions aimed at improving existing systems must be supplemented and supported by a robust and well planned monitoring and assessment system.
17000 ft sets up libraries with colourful, engaging, age appropriate books, in English and Hindi, as well as the local languages, Urdu and Ladakhi, largely from domestic publishers. Books are chosen keeping in mind the reading abilities of the children, and emphasis is laid on picture books, locally relevant content and also books which provide exposure to the outside world. 17000 ft libraries consist not only of easy reading and fiction books, but also have reference books, subject exposure books, encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases etc., to aid the child in his academic curriculum.
Our 250th Library in Ladakh, called "The Next Chapter" was inaugurated in November 2017 under the project AxisDilSe. It is a public library right in the heart of Leh City, for young kids to just walk in, grab a book, plonk themselves down on a cushion and read! The library has hundreds of books for kids of all ages, an Art and Craft Room, a projector for screening movies once a month and computers to listen to audio books. And games to play. We conducted activities every week. It was fun and buzzing and active and a great hangout place for kids.
But post Covid-19, the The Next Chapter Library is not running to its full potential due to lack of funds. Do get in touch with us in case you wish to support us in running the Library.
17000 ft Foundation has been tirelessly working to create a culture of reading in Ladakh, by setting up libraries across hundreds of schools in remote areas. In a region where the only books available to read were either religious texts or travel books, the presence of hundreds of books in each school opened up a world of imagination and discovery for these children.
17000 ft has partnered with Pratham Books and Scholastic Publishers to translate few of their titles each into the local language, Bhoti, to be made available to children across 300 schools of Ladakh.
