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Ngurang Meena has launched a humble self-help roadside-free library in Arunachal Pradesh to infuse the habit of reading among people of all ages. Meena is a teacher by profession and a social worker by choice at Naharlagun town. Founded at Nirjuli on August 30 this year, her initiative “Ngurang Learning Institute” has become quite an attraction in the neighborhood.

The library, first of its kind in the area, is currently a simple rack loaded with books and a couple of wooden benches for the readers by the road. Additionally, to save the books from rain, Meena with the help of her students who constructed it, has added plastic sheets.

In a candid conversation with LifeBeyondNumbers, Meena shared her inspiration behind the idea and her long term vision.

Ngurang Meena free library in arunachal — Ngurang Meena

Nirjuli, a town in the Papum Pare district of Arunachal Pradesh is about 19 km away from the capital Itanagar. The distance often deters the readers from buying books. Meena expects the self-help library to bridge this gap.

Meena, along with her friend Diwang Hosai, was the first to start the initiative. Her siblings and cousin sisters are also part of her NGO – Ngurang Learning Institute. She was inspired by the several ‘little free libraries’ (LFLs) that have sprung up in Aizawl by members of a small library movement.

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“The idea of a street library was inspired by the Mizoram Street Library project, where people were seen musing the books sitting and standing for hours or more from a small wooden shelf attached to a public wall,” she said.

Anyone can access the books from the newly founded library by Meena at any time. The shelves hold books ranging from Relativity, The Alchemist, Malgudi Days to Darwin’s Origin of Science piled up in rows which Meena has mostly bought from her own funds.

Meena is currently working as a professional economics teacher in a Government Secondary School at Rajiv Gandhi University Campus in Doimukh. She has spent Rs.10,000 to procure the books and another Rs.10,000 to create the library shelves which she constructed with the help of the local kids who are taught by her. Few of the procured books are shelved in the library and the rest are currently kept at her home.

“Ngurang learning Institute is a self-funded NGO as we are not eligible for Government aid yet. Whatever income comes from our institute, we utilize it, however because of the pandemic, it too has stopped. I being a Government employee is solely managing with my mere salary to sustain my NGO work,” she revealed.

Meena is a graduate from MCC Bangalore and holds a master’s degree in economics from Rajiv Gandhi University Arunachal Pradesh along with a B.Ed. degree. It was her mother who instilled the need of imparting education in her so as to help women and society at large. She was also motivated by her late father Ngurang Pinch ex MLA who was killed by rival politicians. Meena has named her NGO after him in his remembrance.

“My late father Ngurang Pinch a politician by profession was a role model to me, being the eldest of five, had the opportunity to assist him in field works. He introduced me to inspiring books of great personalities which helped in shaping my goals in life. My mother being an illiterate herself, motivated me to help teach the destitute women suffering from societal norms and taboos like child marriage and polygamy,” says Meena.

Her NGO’s objective is to help empower tribal people who are deprived of basic schooling and to help empower them to come forward to start a new dignified life by reading and writing. They have earlier traveled to many remote parts of the state to take classes of school children. The current pandemic had discontinued all of that. This made her come up with the new initiative of the ‘Self-help library’.

Meena has cited the slogan of ‘Padhega to badhega India’ in many of her Facebook posts.

Arunachal Pradesh’s literacy stands at about 65%. She intends to develop her state in terms of education with this initiative. She cites that there are more liquor shops in her state than libraries and that she wants a change. In the age of smartphones and e-reading, Meena wants to infuse a culture of reading so as to culture young minds. She wishes such libraries to be present in every ward and council of her state.

“Unfortunately Arunachal has more liquor shops than bookstores. The youth here lack the habit of reading. When you read books you learn new words and your vocabulary improves. Warren Buffett says that 88% of successful people of the world are avid readers. Reading is the brain food and we are what our environment is,” Meena emphasizes.

Many have come forward to donate books to the self-help library yet many books are stolen. To this, Meena said that although they are stolen, she has more books at her home to replace them. She adds she has seen many senior students eyeing the library but failing to join the kids. In the future, she wishes to start lending books like the little book libraries in Mizoram. This will ease the ones who fail to read on the open benches.

“The response so far has been overwhelming. Young boys and girls frequent the library. People have volunteered to donate books. I wish such libraries to be opened in every ward and councils of the state,” says Ngurang Meena.

Do you believe in the power of books? If you are willing to donate to Meena’s cause, please call on 9862496171.