Srajal

Director @BansaLibrary | To read is to live fully. | Support Free Libraries Everywhere. Read More:

[Bansa Community Library @BansaLibrary]

Dear friends of Bansa Library, sharing with you, with much love, our Monthly Update for April from Bansa Library.

April was a full and tender month at Bansa. The summer arrived in full force, but so did our community, showing up for one another in the most beautiful ways. Our Comic Corner that has quickly become a favourite among our younger readers, took pop-up library sessions out into the villages around Bansa, and watched the women of our community pick up their pens at our Hindi Writing Workshop, writing, singing, and claiming the space on their own terms. Read the entire report here- https://t.co/NLiiUfWuSh

In numbers: 714 books issued, 430+ visitors, 193 new books added, and 45 new members welcomed into the Bansa family, including 16 competitive exam aspirants preparing for life-changing opportunities right here in their village.

If you would like to support our aspirants directly, even one book from our Amazon Wishlist goes straight into the hands of someone building their future through their own quiet, determined effort. https://t.co/V7mfX6OZ4X

And do follow us on https://t.co/wnyDc0VKSi to stay close to the everyday life of the library. We would love to have you along.

Happy Reading

[Bansa Community Library @BansaLibrary]

At Bansa Library, Mother’s Day is not just about celebration, it is about creating space. A space where women from the village step out of routines and responsibilities for a little while and simply sit together. They talk, laugh, listen, share stories, and slowly rediscover time for themselves.

For many women here, the library has become more than a room full of books. It has become a place of friendship, comfort, and belonging. A place where stories are read aloud, conversations unfold without judgement, and afternoons are spent together in warmth and care.

Some come with their children, some come shy and quiet at first, and some stay back long after the reading circle ends, continuing conversations that rarely find space elsewhere.

This Mother’s Day, we celebrated not only mothers, but the gentle community that forms when women gather around stories, around each other, and around the simple joy of being seen and heard.

Because sometimes, a community library becomes one of the few places where women are allowed to pause, breathe, and belong.

#BansaLibrary #MothersDay #CommunityLibrary #WomenReaders #LibrariesChangeLives #RuralLibraries #ReadingTogether

[Bansa Community Library @BansaLibrary]

At Bansa Library, books often become the beginning of conversations that travel far beyond their pages. Around the same table, children, young people, and adults come together to listen, question, disagree, reflect, and share experiences from their own lives.

In rural areas, spaces like these become even more important because there are so few places where people across generations can simply gather to think, speak, and learn together. Outside of schools or homes, there are very limited public spaces that encourage open conversations, curiosity, and collective reflection. This is why free community libraries become so important. They create accessible, welcoming spaces where anyone, regardless of age, background, or income, can walk in, belong, and participate. Libraries slowly become much more than rooms with books, they become spaces of dialogue, imagination, confidence, and community.

#FreeLibrariesForAll #RightToRead #BansaCommunityLibrary #AccessToBooks

[Bansa Community Library @BansaLibrary]

In a small room full of books, something beautiful is happening every evening. Our youngest library members are slowly finding their voice in English, one new word, one small sentence, one brave attempt at a time. Every evening at Bansa Library, the room fills with curious questions, shy introductions, new words, laughter, and little voices trying fearlessly again and again. What began as hesitation is slowly turning into confidence. For many of these children, this is their first space where learning English doesn’t feel like pressure, it feels like play, friendship, and possibility.

At Bansa Library, Spoken English classes are not just about language. They are about confidence, expression, and making children feel that the world is a little more within their reach.

#BansaLibrary #SpokenEnglish #CommunityLearning #RuralLibrary #ChildrenWhoRead #LearningWithJoy

[Bansa Community Library @BansaLibrary]

Some books arrive quietly, and yet carry entire worlds within them.

We are so happy to share that The Good Reporter / बड़ी आई पत्रकार! by Disha Mullick and reporters from Khabar Lahriya has finally reached Bansa Community Library. A beautiful work that brings together stories, voices, memories, and journeys from across rural India, the book feels deeply connected to the kind of conversations we hope libraries can nurture in villages like ours. What makes this work especially meaningful is how it centres ordinary people, local realities, and lived experiences with care and dignity. In spaces where rural stories are so often ignored, simplified, or spoken for by others, books like these become incredibly important. They remind readers that their own lives, struggles, questions, and observations matter too.

We cannot wait for our readers, especially young people from surrounding villages, to pick these books from the shelves, flip through their pages, and perhaps begin imagining their own stories, reports, questions, and ways of seeing the world.

Every new book that enters the library expands what becomes possible inside it.
#TheGoodReporter #FreeLibrary #BansaLibrary

[Bansa Community Library @BansaLibrary]

In this video we asked our members what they love most about their Free Community Library. From reading newspapers to studying for hours, or even just enjoying the toys, reading comics, everyone agrees—it's like a second home at Bansa Community Library!

[Bansa Community Library @BansaLibrary]

We are delighted to welcome Team Kutumb Foundation and Free Libraries Network to Bansa Community Library as part of the Comic Corner initiative.

What followed was more than just a visit, it was a day full of imagination, expression, and connection. From lively read-aloud sessions and playful drama workshops to meaningful interactions with our library members, every corner of the library felt full of energy and curiosity. For many of our children, comics are becoming a doorway to reading, creativity, confidence, and collective storytelling. And days like these remind us how powerful libraries can be when people come together to build joyful learning spaces for children.

#ComicCorner #FreeLibrary #BansaLibrary

[Bansa Community Library @BansaLibrary]

While discussions around the environment are a regular part of life at Bansa Library, World Environment Day gave us a special opportunity to bring our members together for a day of reflection, learning, and action.

Through engaging discussions, a movie screening, reading sessions, and interactive activities, children and young members explored some of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time and reflected on their own relationship with nature and their surroundings.

At Bansa Library, we believe that building a more sustainable future starts with informed and curious minds. By creating spaces where young people can learn, question, and imagine solutions, we hope to nurture a generation that is not only aware of environmental issues but also empowered to respond to them.

#WorldEnvironmentDay #BansaLibrary #CommunityLibrary #EnvironmentDay #LibrariesForChange #ReadingForChange

[Srajal @Sraaaaajal]

This Christmas 🎄 gift a book that opens a world📚. Support Bansa community library and help young readers dream bigger.
#GiftABook #ChristmasGiving #BansaLibrary

[Bansa Community Library @BansaLibrary]

Celebrate this festive season, help us bring books to our readers. At our free Library, thousands of children, first-generation learners, are waiting for their wish listed books. You can contribute directly: https://t.co/v4dfFokeFW or send books via Amazon-https://t.co/LCNLVJ1FPL

[Bansa Community Library @BansaLibrary]

Today at our Women Adda, a weekly space where women from Bansa and nearby villages come together to talk, learn, and unwind, we hosted a special community screening of 'Homebound' at Bansa Community Library. This beautiful film holds a mirror to the journeys of so many migrant families in and around Bansa, stories of longing, resilience, separation, and love. Grateful to the makers of Homebound for creating a film that feels so close to home for our community.

[Jatin Lalit @JatinLalitS]

5 years ago today, it started with this shelf. The first bookshelf went up at @BansaLibrary, what began as a small dream in my village became district’s first free community library, now serving thousands of first-generation learners and inspiring rural libraries across India.

[Bansa Community Library @BansaLibrary]

As winter begins to set in, stories bring their own warmth. A young reader leads a read-aloud session at our library courtyard, her voice carrying tales that spark curiosity and comfort alike. Not long ago, books like these were out of reach for most children here in Bansa. Today, stories are shared, passed on, and celebrated, one voice, one listener, one story at a time.

This isn't just a read-aloud; it's a celebration of possibility. It’s the simple, powerful act of one voice connecting with one listener, weaving a story that gets passed on and remembered long after the last page is turned. It's a reminder that sometimes, the simplest things, a story, a moment of presence, can offer the deepest, most human warmth of all.

[Srajal @Sraaaaajal]

@JatinLalitS Reading comments and its definitely not looking good

[Srajal @Sraaaaajal]

@Malvikaggarwal Oh no, I thought it was a joke

[Jatin Lalit @JatinLalitS]

Couldn’t be happier to share that ‘Chalti Phirti Bansa Library’ is now on the move.

After months of dreaming and planning, it’s finally reaching members across 54 villages in Hardoi, who otherwise are not able to visit @BansaLibrary, carrying books, laptops, resources & more.

[Bansa Community Library @BansaLibrary]

MONTHLY UPDATE REPORT- SEPTEMBER 2025
Dear Friends of Bansa Library,
We hope you’re enjoying the festive season and that these days have brought you moments of joy, warmth, and togetherness. We are back with our monthly report for last month. September was a special month, full of energy, new readers, and exciting growth! We welcomed 470 visitors, issued 346 books, added 22 new members, and enriched our shelves with 230 new books.

Read the complete report here- https://t.co/MwaGtByPhx

The biggest news, we’ve expanded to a new village! The Hathaura Community Library @hathauralibrary (30 km from Bansa) has just opened, thanks to a kind volunteer. To make this new space come alive, we need your support for bookshelves, furniture, books, stationery, and computers. You can contribute here: https://t.co/SSkehcW6Ig or order books from its Amazon Wishlist here- https://t.co/wldGQPArrp

Thank you for powering this Rural Library Movement!

[Bansa Community Library @BansaLibrary]

At our rural free library, technology bridges distance and brings learning to life. In this session, a teacher from another city joined our young readers virtually to guide them through an engaging art activity, sparking creativity, curiosity, and confidence among children right here in Bansa. For many of our members, this is their first time experiencing an online class, a glimpse into how technology can connect small villages to the wider world of ideas and learning.

#FreeLibrary

[Srajal @Sraaaaajal]

@BansaLibrary @FreeLibNetwork @sanjayuvacha @chiefsanjay @capitalcalculus @joybhattacharj @grumpeoldman @nilanjanaroy @raman_anuradha @amitandon @warikoo Support Free Libraries Everywhere. Contribute and amplify.

[Bansa Community Library @BansaLibrary]

A Call For Support: Fueling Futures with Books for Bansa and other FREE RURAL COMMUNITY LIBRARIES

Contribute- https://t.co/5Q9NKNXrE8

The Most Critical Investment: Bridging the Book Gap
Access to books is not a privilege; it is the fundamental engine of growth, curiosity, and transformation. For the children and youth served by our libraries, these spaces are beacons of hope, offering a window to the world that poverty and geography often shut.

Right now, these libraries are at a critical juncture. While they successfully draw in thousands of members eager to learn, they face a severe and escalating crisis: a drastically poor member-to-book ratio. We are launching this urgent campaign to raise ₹10,00,000 INR to acquire a diverse, high-quality collection of books across all eight libraries.

This investment will improve the member-to-book ratio, ensuring that every reader, from the youngest child learning their alphabet to the student preparing for competitive exams, has immediate access to the resources they need to thrive.

Please join us in this critical effort. Your donation will not just buy a book; it will invest in the quality of education, the confidence of a student, and the future prosperity of an entire community.

Donate today and help us bridge the gap from aspiration to achievement. For more details & to contribute- https://t.co/5Q9NKNXrE8

Contribute via upi- amf@hdfcbank

#SupportFreeLibraries

[Bansa Community Library @BansaLibrary]

WE NEED MORE BOOKS FOR OUR LIBRARY
Order a book today from our Amazon Wishlist- https://t.co/V7mfX6OZ4X and help us keep learning alive in places where libraries are yet to reach. You can also contribute monetarily here- https://t.co/Da5mSHTSex or UPI- amf@hdfcbank

In many villages around us, there are no libraries, and distance keeps people from reaching the Bansa Community Library. Yet, the hunger to learn, read, and dream continues to grow.

This Daan Utsav, through our Amazon Wishlist, you can help us bring books to these villages, to the hands that need them the most. Every book you send travels miles to reach a young reader discovering stories for the first time, a girl finding her voice through words, or an aspirant who can now prepare for competitive exams without migrating to faraway cities.

These are not just any books, they are personally requested by our readers. From textbooks and guides for UPSC, SSC, and other exams, to novels, poetry, and children’s storybooks, each title on the list reflects someone’s hope, someone’s effort to learn, and someone’s belief that books can change their life.

When you order from our Wishlist, you’re not just sending a parcel, you’re sending opportunity, dignity, and joy.

For first-generation readers, for adults rediscovering learning, for girls who read under lanterns, for every dreamer who now dares to imagine more, your small act can make a lifelong difference.

Order a book today from our Amazon Wishlist- https://t.co/V7mfX6OZ4X and help us keep learning alive in places where libraries are yet to reach. You can also contribute monetarily here- https://t.co/Da5mSHTSex or upi- amf@hdfcbank

#SupportFreeLibrary