PM praises city-based NGO for promoting libraries

Hyderabad: With the motto ‘Ghar Ghar Pustakalaya’ and the mission to connect idle books with hungry minds, the Hyderabad-based Food4Thought Foundation received appreciation during the 116thepisode of ‘Mann Ki Baat’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's monthly radio programme, on Sunday. The foundation has established around 620 libraries across India, including 124 in Telangana.

Along with highlighting various libraries across India, including Prakrith Arivagam’s Library in Chennai and Prayog Library’ in Bihar’s Golapganj, the Prime Minister also praised the ‘Food4 Thought Foundation’ in Hyderabad for creating impactful libraries that provide authentic information to children.

Food4Thought Foundation is a non-profit organisation that has operated since 2015 with the sole purpose of igniting the reading revolution in India. As part of this initiative, approximately 620 libraries have been established across 92 cities and 21 states in India, including schools, jails, and community spaces such as ITI Guwahati and Central Jail, Sikkim.

Madhavi Sharma, co-founder and foundation director, told Hans India, “We are extremely grateful to our Prime Minister Narendra Modi for appreciating our works and sharing it with the fellow citizens of India through Mann ki Baat. We have always believed that a nation should be known not only by its GDP but also by its ‘GGP’, which is ‘Ghar GharPustakalaya’. We started this journey by creating access to books in a few government schools, and today we have provided access to over one lakh children.”

Stressing on the collection of books, members of the Food4Thought Foundation said, “Many children in our society lack access to books, while countless books remain unused and idle. To promote reading habits and bridge this gap by setting up libraries across India, this foundation was established in 2015. As part of this mission, many individuals approach us with a desire to donate their books. During this process, we categorise the books, which often include non-fiction, fiction, and various informative genres.

We then identify suitable government schools and proceed to set up libraries in those locations. If the donated books are predominantly fiction or non-fiction for adults, we identify suitable libraries to house them. Additionally, we collaborate with individuals interested in establishing small libraries and accept book donations to support their efforts.”

“The foundation not only establishes and maintains libraries but also strives to make them more engaging and appealing to children. To achieve this, we have recorded lesser-known indigenous stories, including both oral and written folklore, as captivating podcasts. In the first phase, 501 stories, each lasting two to three minutes, were recorded in eight languages and are now available on the official YouTube channel (Food4Thought Foundation). Plans are underway to record an additional 500 stories in 11 languages by this December,” Madhavi added.