Hanging Libraries – Where Dreams Take Flight | A Books for All Trust Initiative to Give the Joy of Books to Village Students across India

In line with our mission “We Don’t Teach, We Educate” Books for All (BFA) started its very first initiative of creating a space for children to explore their dreams and talents through unconventional learning techniques. These were “Library cum Creativity Centres” in the Government Primary Schools of urban villages in Noida. Currently, BFA has six operational libraries.

Since there was a lack of space and infrastructure in most of the Government Schools, it became impossible for us to open more libraries. To help children get access to good quality books, BFA started providing Hanging Libraries to schools in Noida which had no room to spare for a functional library. The unique feature of Hanging Library is that it does not need any space or dedicated infrastructure, as it can be easily hung on walls. Also, each Hanging Library contains 100 beautifully illustrated story books in English, Hindi and regional languages. Bi-lingual books are also made available as per need. This helped remove geographical and language barriers.

Our very first demand for a Hanging Library outside of Noida came from Maharashtra. Mr. Govind, Sarpanch of Umali village, Buldhana district, Maharashtra, approached us for some books in Marathi to start a village library. Promptly we sent a Hanging Library and the smiles on the children’s faces opened new avenues for us.

Owing to the popularity and the response that we received from the schools, BFA started a drive in 2021 to raise funds for Hanging Libraries to help provide good quality books to Primary and Middle Schools across India. As of September 2022, with the help of our numerous supporters, we were able to install 61 Hanging Libraries in 11 states of India including Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Maharashtra, Bihar, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Telangana, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, and Mizoram. In some states, these libraries were provided in regional languages viz. Punjabi, Marathi, Telugu, Assamese, and Bengali as well.

Our initiative was not limited only to schools. BFA also installed a library at a roadside Pathshala in Noida where street children regularly come and dwell in the wonders of these books. BFA plans to spread this initiative in all states of India. In 2022-23 our target is to install 100 Hanging Libraries across India. 

About Books for All (BFA)

Books for All (BFA) is a not-for-profit organization registered as a Public Charitable Trust on 10th February 2011 in New Delhi. The organization has expanded its area of work benefitting not only children but youth mostly from less-privileged families residing in urban villages of Delhi- NCR. The Trust is engaged in setting up library-cum-creativity centres and installing wall hung libraries to make reading fun and learning joyous! Books for All also sponsors bright students for better schooling, provides career counselling and vocational training to first generation learners and has recently started a literacy programme to empower women.