A movement spearheaded by volunteers is getting youngsters to read in Odisha

A couple of volunteers are guiding readers while another can be seen reading aloud to children. Yet another is watering saplings. The place feels like a museum full of life. And this is what attracts school children and youngsters to the Bhubaneswar-based Bakul Foundation that turned 10 this year and has as many as 23 libraries across Odisha.

I am in the three-storied building in Bhubaneswar’s Satya Nagar locality that houses Bakul’s main library. The ground floor is meant exclusively for children, the upper floors have books for adult readers, and the rooftop is used for creative workshops. The backyard has a small stage for live performances.

Although frequented by people of all ages, the students outnumber the others. Apart from the main library at Satya Nagar, the Foundation has one each in Cuttack and Paralakhemundi town in Gajapati district, three in villages on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, two in orphanages within Bhubaneshwar, and 15 in government-run schools in Malkangiri town and Bhubaneswar.

Founder-secretary Sujit Mahapatra, and Pooja Mishra, an active member of the team, are happy that the reading habit is spreading among younger readers in the age of the Internet and social media. Bakul libraries located outside schools act as community centres, since they have come up with the involvement of the local community. And voluntarism is the force that keeps Bakul growing, whether in education, art or raising environment awareness.

While the space has been provided by schools and philanthropists, the books are mostly donated by people from all walks of life. No funding agency has been involved—books are either donated directly or purchased with cash donations. As word spreads, hundreds of books from across the country are reaching the Foundation to be distributed among its libraries. The libraries have over 50,000 books at present, including the 20,000 volumes in the main one in Bhubaneswar.

Mahapatra and a few friends set up the Foundation on April 1, 2007, but interestingly, it’s only in the last three years that there has been growth. For the first seven years, it remained a single branch. The number of volunteers—more than 150—comprises students, retired people, homemakers and professionals.

Bakul has also published four books with paintings and sketches done by children at its workshops. Bakul’s volunteers gift saplings and flowering plants on special occasions. Like their movement, it’s a gift that grows.