Community Sites

The Mobile Outreach Programme (MOP) was conceptualized in 2011 to take the library into community spaces reaching out to the children. Children who access MOP are mostly first generation school goers between the ages 3 to 13. With few or no adults to read with them or to introduce the library to them, this program fosters informed reading for every child irrespective of his/her environment. This project covers the gap in access to books and resources for children in Goa. Our work with mobile libraries has demonstrated that the use of carefully curated resources and gentle facilitation enable children to become active learners and grow as thinkers. The community libraries serve communities who have been locked in due to geographical habitats, ethnic backgrounds and an alienating medium of instruction. 

For each session, a story is chosen based on what the children relate to. It has been found effective and important to choose a story which is about something specific in the immediate socio-cultural environment of the children. It not only echoes a personal interest as an understood identifier but also bridges the gap in the literacy related activities that follow. The activity is typically a package of discussing elements in the story and expressing it through multiple forms- games designed to fit into the resource plan, a song written and put tune to, gestures, a drawing activity and avid discussions around it.  A lending library is set up with every child who comes for 2 consecutive sessions. The resource person discusses each book when the child returns it drawing parallels to their lives and the story / reading. The book is welcomed into their lives and becomes an extension of their world. 

MOP becomes a woven carpet of children who have participated in the world of books and with every session take another step towards welcoming the world of books into their lives and interweaving it with their own contexts.