Community Library Cum
Resource Center
What We Do
NEET’s community library cum resource center is an informal space for children, youth and community members to come together to engage and express through their heads, heart and hands. Stocked with an exciting range of age and interest-appropriate, contextual children’s literature, activity kits, art and craft supplies, it enables children to learn through experiential learning methods. We regularly conduct different activities, workshops, interactive sessions to encourage children to read and explore their abilities of critical thinking and expression. We provide daily academic support to children after school on language, math,science and social science through learner centric and child-friendly pedagogy.
Our Beneficiaries
NEET’s Community Library cum Resource Center benefits children living in slum areas who go to government schools or low income private schools. These are children of domestic workers and daily wage earners who are from economically weak sections and lack home support in their academics.
Our Goals for the Programme
- To provide academic support to children by teaching them school subjects through child-friendly pedagogy free of cost.
- To develop their abilities of analytical and critical thinking by engaging them in various activities so that they can explore their multiple identities, and understand, question and reflect on them.
- To provide equal access to quality educational materials like books, magazines, art and craft materials to marginalized children.
- To organize workshops, interactive sessions on art, theater, dance and provide children, youth and community members with a space where they can explore and relate their inner world of imagination to their external physical world
Chronicles of our Community Library Programme
NEET’s Community Library was established in 2018, featuring a wide range of children’s literature, activity kits, art and craft supplies. In the first year, about 150 students from the immediate vicinity enrolled in the library, though there were around 70 who were regulars. To attract children to the library space, numerous activities like planned library sessions featuring read alouds, book talks, library activities alongwith discussions with young writers, theatre personalities and local artists are conducted. Exposure visits to museums, book fairs, festivals showcasing the children’s talents in theatre,mime and music are arranged. Workshops and classes on mime, crafts, theatre, singing, and dancing are conducted regularly to encourage children to develop their critical thinking and expressive skills.
By 2020, around 200 children were enrolled but due to the lockdown period, our library regulars dropped down to 100. From November 2020, we started providing academic support to children as their academics suffered due to the covid induced lockdown period. Along with conducting Library activities, we started teaching Language, Mathematics and Science to our children. The library regulars are divided into three groups according to their learning level and they are taught Accelerated English/Assamese learning programme, maths and science.
