With parents like these8230;

Nobody likes to read these days... who has the time?... the kids just spend their hours in front of the TV...It's easy to list off such c...

Nobody likes to read these days8230; who has the time?8230; the kids just spend their hours in front of the TV8230;

It8217;s easy to list off such complaints and crib about the habit of reading dying out these days. Almost always it8217;s all talk and no go. But somewhere there are a few people who actually decide to do something about it, like the parents of children studying at the Abhinav Vidyalaya Poorva-Prathamik Shala Marathi medium. Under the directive of the school principal, Rajani Date, some of the parents got together and thought of a unique solution to revive this habit. And was born the Dnyanranjan Granthalaya 8211; a library for the parents.

8220;We know that children are not so acquainted with the world of books these days. Enough has been said and written about it. What we thought was that children do not read because their parents 8211; their first role models 8211; too spend little time with books. So how can one expect the children to develop a taste for reading?8221; Date asks rhetorically.

With this thought governing the consequent activities, it became necessary to address the parents themselves. So Date proposed, at a parent-teacher association meet, that some of the parents come together and start a library for themselves. The idea was received well, and the groundwork began in March last year. Finally, on July 16, the library for parents was formally inaugurated at the school premises in Erandvane.

8220;What the principal suggested made sense to us,8221; says member Vidya Satalkar, 8220;With the television occupying all our spare hours, books as companions had long been forgotten. It is quite natural that our kids, too, are not exposed to them. When she mooted the idea of a library for parents and run by parents, some of us took it up immediately.8221;

Beginning with a few books donated by parent members, the library got a boost when two publishing houses 8211; Srividya Prakashan and Dilipraj Prakashan 8211; donated books worth over Rs. 8,000. 8220;We also told fellow parents to donate a book to celebrate special occasions, like a birthday,8221; says Shweta Deshpande, another pioneer member.

Bit by bit, the library grew. Today, it houses about 600 books in its shelves. 8220;We do not stock pulp fiction here. The aim is primarily education and information, so the books, too, have some lessons enclosed within its pages. With authors like Asha Parulekar, Shobha Bhagwat, Dr. Leela Patil, it has books on parenting, health, travelogues, epics, or scientific books by those like Dr. Jayant Narlikar. We also have books that we can read out to our children, like Sane Gurujinchya Godkatha or the Faster Fenay series,8221; says another parent.

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Working within a proper framework, the 150-odd members have cards issued to them. 8220;These have been prepared by a parent who had a computer at home, and volunteered to take up this job,8221; points out Date. Open every Thursday and functioning from the Ganesh Hall of the school, the officials even fine late returns of the books. 8220;This money is used to maintain the books, which we take care to keep in good condition,8221; says Pallavi Joshi, a volunteer. 8220;So involved are we with the library now that even if our children move on to further classes, we will continue to work here,8221; she continues.

Currently open only to parents whose tiny tots study at the Poorva Prathamik Shala, there have been suggestions to expand its scope for others too. If funds permit, that shall be done. After all, if kids are to develop a fondness for books, there8217;s a long way to go and lots of books to be read.