The Ashoka Tree works in the early childhood education space, working with children in anganwadis (unaided playschools) across India to ensure equal opportunities for children across all sectors of the economy.

To this extent, in coordination with local district Child Development Officers and Program Officers (from the Ministry for Women and Child Development, Central Government), The Ashoka Tree has been setting up libraries in over five states in India.

The Ashoka Tree - Athi-Sundar Library Project

Named "The Athi-Sundar Library" - after our Founder's Father who instilled in her a lifelong love for books and learning, our libraries hope to serve as the foundation for better lives for every child who enters.

These libraries, filled with books and toys for children of all ages also have books for mothers who come to drop off/pick up their children and serve as community centres for these women to get together every month for discussions on everything from health and well-being to recipes and better parenting.

The concept of collecting books and toys for a new library, arises from the idea that a huge portion of society has books and toys that children outgrow and these are usually thrown away as waste products or taken to the local recycling unit. The Ashoka Tree aims to improve sustainability and keep these books and toys that remain in good working condition to continue to share them at our "Athi-Sundar Library" projects across the country at local anganwadis.

All books and toys will be simple basic children’s items that will aid in a creating a brighter world with a better imagination and creativity, as children increase their yearn for further learning.The Ashoka Tree - Athi-Sundar Library Project

Named "The Athi-Sundar Library" - after our Founder's Father who instilled in her a lifelong love for books and learning, our libraries hope to serve as the foundation for better lives for every child who enters.

These libraries, filled with books and toys for children of all ages also have books for mothers who come to drop off/pick up their children and serve as community centres for these women to get together every month for discussions on everything from health and well-being to recipes and better parenting.

The concept of collecting books and toys for a new library, arises from the idea that a huge portion of society has books and toys that children outgrow and these are usually thrown away as waste products or taken to the local recycling unit. The Ashoka Tree aims to improve sustainability and keep these books and toys that remain in good working condition to continue to share them at our "Athi-Sundar Library" projects across the country at local anganwadis.

All books and toys will be simple basic children’s items that will aid in a creating a brighter world with a better imagination and creativity, as children increase their yearn for further learning.

Key Interventions 

Once the right district and anganwadi have been chosen, the following key interventions will be made: 

Infrastructure upgradation for the library - Every anganwadi should ideally have adequate resources and space, including ventilation and sanitation. India unfortunately still has a situation where there are often children being made to spend days without fans/lights or even the odd toilet with running water. We would then, if this is the situation, work at ensuring these are provided - from procuring lights and fans to building bathrooms or providing shelves for the "Athi-Sundar Library"

a) Upgrades for safety and hygiene - which may include refurbishment of the anganwadi wall/gate, improvements in ventilation and lighting, refurbishment of sanitation facilities or provision of safe drinking water

b) Upgrades for the library and recreation centre - which may include installation of shelves and collection of books, cleaning and de-weeding of school ground, plantation of trees, installation of play equipment, etc.

Early learning & reading programme - When required, through this project, a set of good quality educational material will be supplied to the children. This material will aim to address multiple areas of the child’s development – Physical Development (material to develop gross and fine motor skills such as beading, sorting, clay, balls, balancing blocks, water play, etc), Language Development (charts, flash cards, reading cards, books, alphabet cut outs, songs and rhymes, etc), Socio- Emotional Development (imaginative play material such as dolls, household material, animal figures, puppets etc which encourage peer engagement and socialization), Cognitive Development (basic puzzles, manipulative, counting, matching, art material, etc) and so on.

The material would be displayed / stored in a manner that makes it accessible to the children. This would encourage children to develop independence in work, learn to make decisions and choices, learn sharing and care of material. An inventory of all material will be maintained and updated on a monthly basis.

The teacher would be trained through a series of quarterly trainings on pedagogy, establishing classroom routines, appropriate use of educational material, cooperative play, developmental milestones, assessment and planning. In addition, experiential learning opportunities would be created for children through celebration of festivals and exposure visits or field trips.

Parent engagement & better parenting sessions - Parenting in a post-pandemic world where gadgets and online safety are paramount is tough, to put it mildly.

The need for parents to check their use of screen time themselves before they acknowledge the importance of recreation and play therapy in children grows by the day.

The project will conduct sensitization workshops with parents on issues affecting children’s learning and development. These may include issues faced by girl students, a conducive home environment, low-cost nutrition, bullying or abuse, importance of attendance, etc. Parents will be supported in discussing these issues and identifying solutions which can be implemented at the anganwadi and community level. In addition, community outreach would be done to initiate a change in attitudes and practices towards children’s education. This would be done through home visits and home-based interventions, creative methods such as competitions in the anganwadi, posters and more.

The existence of a library filled with books is a great conversation starter. This ensures, the general curiosity of children when they see books and toys would spread to their parents when they come to drop a child off or pick her up from the local anganwadi.

General meetings for women from the local community on family and mental-health issues - Monthly meetings will be held at our library with mothers and women from the local community on general issues like healthy eating, menopause or the need for addressing signs of depression. 

India, unfortunately, still has a large percentage of people who do not discuss issues related to mental well being. Our library meetings for women should potentially inspire them to discuss things like “premenstrual syndrome” or symptoms of menopause, leading them to understand that they’re not alone, and every woman, across the planet feels the same way. This would then open up channels of conversation between each other, building a more supportive, inclusive society around the anganwadi.