It all started last year (late 2016) when Sujata asked me to find out how much it would cost to make a small shelf for books, which could be placed or hung in a noticeable, accessible spot. The shelf would have a metal frame and a couple of wooden shelves with some material to cover the top and sides as protection against dust, dew and rain.
The shelf was created soon enough, but school and other activities kept us busy. Also, the shelf was being fabricated in the small village of Nachinola, near Aldona – out of the way for any of the Team to follow progress regularly. It was decided to install the BookStop in Aldona, since Bookworm has had a long, complicated relationship (aka Facebook’s relationship categories) with the village.
Finally, the Team selected a Sunday in August 2017 – the 13th – to have a small ceremony so that all the residents would know that there would be books they could borrow, read and return at leisure. Monica spoke to Mr. Anthony Alvares who rents a small space in the Aldona market from where he has been selling homemade snacks for many years now – he agreed to let us put up the shelf on one of the outer walls of his premises. Gouthami and the rest of the Team spread the word – in person, posters, emails and social media. To make the occasion more festive, boiled gram with coconut pieces – a traditional snack served at ladainhas – would be served. The books for the shelf were selected and stickers stating that the books had to be read and returned were stuck on each book. On the evening of the 12th, Jagdish, the fabricator and Gordon put up the shelf in readiness for the next day’s Installation.
Around 11 am, there was a small crowd of people and the books had been arranged on the shelf. Being a community thing, everyone raised the small plastic sheet covering the front of the shelf, together, after Gouthami said a few words. The Team was happy to see the number of people who came especially for the event and also the number who stopped to see what was happening. It was a great morning.
The shelf now has fewer children’s books – it seems they’ve been borrowed; and more adult books which have been recently donated. Questions have been asked about how we would keep track of the books. The residents are surprised when told that the whole borrowing-reading-returning process is based on trust. So far, we have not been disappointed.
