Bansa Community Library

In this video we asked our members what they love most about their Free Community Library. From reading newspapers to studying for hours, or even just enjoying the toys, reading comics, everyone agrees—it's like a second home at Bansa Community Library!

As part of our Women Readership Enhancement Project, our Hindi Writing Workshop for Women has officially begun at Bansa Community Library. Over the next 6 weeks, this space will become more than just a library, it will become a space of reflection, courage, and expression. These women, who showed up with a quiet but powerful intent to learn, are beginning their journey of putting thoughts into words, memories into stories, and experiences into something that can be shared and held. For many, this is the first time they are being given both the time and the space to write, to pause, to think, and to express without hesitation. For more details and to support this project, click here- rzp.io/rzp/RightToRea… #RightToReadForAll #WomenReadership

Sunday, Funday, Games Day at Bansa Library.

In continuation of our earlier announcement about the Fundraising Book Sale, due to logistical and unforeseen circumstances, the dates have been rescheduled. 🗓 New Dates: 4th April & 5th 2026 📍 Kunzum Books, GK-II (4th Floor) ⏰ 11 AM – 8 PM Everything else remains the same, the books, the offers, the joy, and our shared purpose of supporting the Women Readership Enhancement Program. Thank you for your understanding and continued support. We look forward to seeing you in April. 📚💛

ANNOUNCEMENT | ANNOUNCEMENT Our 4th Fundraising Book Sale is back at the beautiful Kunzum Books, and this time, every page turned carries forward a bigger purpose. We’re opening up space for pre-loved books in good condition to find new readers and new home while the proceeds from the sale go towards strengthening our Women Readership Enhancement Programme at our Bansa Community Library in rural Uttar Pradesh. This programme focuses on creating access, confidence, and community around reading for women and girls in Bansa and nearby villages. If you have books you’d like to donate, or if you’re looking to take a few home, we’d love to have you. Come browse, contribute, and be part of a reading movement rooted in care and continuity. 📍 Kunzum Books, GK II 🗓 28th Feb & 1st March 11 AM – 8 PM Please amplify and spread the word. If you wish to volunteer and help us in organizing the sale, please DM. #FundraisingBookSale #SheRead #BansaCommunityLibrary #BooksForChange

📢 Important Update – New Dates for Our Fundraising Book Sale Dear friends and fellow book lovers, Because of some logistical and unforeseen circumstances, we’ve had to gently reschedule our upcoming Fundraising Book Sale. While changes like this are never easy, we believe it will help us host the kind of thoughtful, joyful gathering you’ve come to expect from us. 🗓 New Dates: 4th April (Saturday) & 5th April 2026 (Sunday) ⏰ 11 AM – 8 PM 📍 Kunzum Books, GK-II (4th Floor), Delhi Everything else remains just the same, the carefully curated 3000+ pre-loved books, limited editions, author-signed copies, beloved classics, hidden gems starting at ₹20, and of course, our Buy 5, Get 1 Free book tradition. Most importantly, every book you take home will continue to support our Women Readership Enhancement Program, helping women and girls from surrounding villages access books, safe reading spaces, and new possibilities. If you’ve already RSVP’d, thank you for standing with us, we truly hope you’ll join us on the new dates. And if you haven’t registered yet, please register eventbrite.com/e/bansa-librar… or scan the QR on the poster. We’re deeply grateful for your patience, understanding, and continued belief in what we’re building together. More than a sale, this is a coming together of people who care about stories, access, and community and we cannot wait to welcome you on April 4th & 5th. Help us in spreading the word, Join us to volunteer for the sale. With Love Team Bansa Community Library #FundraisingBookSale #BookSaleAtKunzum

Call for Book Donations We have initiated a book collection drive in Delhi NCR, and are reaching out to you, our generous community, to donate your preloved books and help us spread the joy of reading to those who need it most. You can drop off your books at our drop centres (details in the poster below), or we can arrange a pick-up for large collections within Delhi. For more details, please contact us at 8384874299 or communitylibrarybansa@gmail.com or fill this form forms.gle/HYFwm9yDbE2Bdy… & please help us in spreading the word. Thank you for your continued support. #BookDonations #CallForSupport

We recently hosted and partnered with Resilient Future to conduct a Climate Games Workshop at the Library. Climate Games Workshop introduced the youth members of the library to tools that helped to realize and analyze their changing surrounding ecology, their relationship with changing temperature, and climatic conditions and the effects climate change on their body, health, and living conditions. It also introduced them to concepts like global warming and enabled conversations on the impact of global warming on their financial, social, and economic growth and development. It was a fun yet effective way to introduce complex topics like Climate change in rural set ups, where the population is not exposed to the knowledge and awareness but is one of the most vulnerable groups to extreme weather events. Youth participation in todays time is extremely crucial for a future that is full of leaders and changemakers

The issue is not a lack of curiosity or intellectual hunger in lower-middle-class families; it is the uneven and often undignified access to books and reading spaces. Exposure to ideas is not just about wanting to read, it depends on whether books are physically available, socially permitted, and emotionally safe to engage with. In many places, even where a library or school exists, reading is framed as a privilege, tightly linked to exams or “usefulness,” not as a legitimate form of exploration. Children are often made to feel out of place, watched, or unworthy in formal knowledge spaces. When access comes without dignity, when you are allowed in, but not welcomed, the habit of reading cannot take root. What appears as a “circle of mediocrity” is more accurately a structural denial of casual, joyful, self-directed reading. Community libraries like us (more in @FreeLibNetwork) exist precisely to break this pattern by offering not just books, but belonging, trust, and the freedom to read without justification.

The issue is not a lack of curiosity or intellectual hunger in lower-middle-class families; it is the uneven and often undignified access to books and reading spaces. Exposure to ideas is not just about wanting to read, it depends on whether books are physically available, socially permitted, and emotionally safe to engage with. In many places, even where a library or school exists, reading is framed as a privilege, tightly linked to exams or “usefulness,” not as a legitimate form of exploration. Children are often made to feel out of place, watched, or unworthy in formal knowledge spaces. When access comes without dignity, when you are allowed in, but not welcomed, the habit of reading cannot take root. What appears as a “circle of mediocrity” is more accurately a structural denial of casual, joyful, self-directed reading. Community libraries like us (more in @FreeLibNetwork) exist precisely to break this pattern by offering not just books, but belonging, trust, and the freedom to read without justification.

@shayar_ka_khwab @BansaLibrary,@TeamFoldscope : you might want to disprove this statement . Children are curious - they lack the facilities!

At Bansa Community Library, our members are actively using digital tools as part of their preparation, accessing online resources, practicing new skills, and learning how to navigate technology with confidence. For many, this is their first meaningful interaction with digital learning spaces. By creating access to both books and technology, we are working to bridge the digital divide and ensure that learning opportunities are not limited by lack of resources. As the saying goes one library, many possibilities. Our Amazon Wishlist includes books directly requested by our members. If you’d like to support their learning, click the link to order a book or more. amazon.in/hz/wishlist/ls… #DigitalDivide #BridgeTheGap #SupportFreeLibrary

The weather in our district Hardoi (UP) has been playing tricks on us lately, one day it’s the biting winter chill, the next it’s unexpected rain. But the compound of Bansa Library tell a different story. Despite the grey skies, our members keep showing up. Some come for the magic of a new story, some for the rhythm of a read-aloud session, and others simply to find warmth and quiet among the shelves. #FreeLibrary

Bansa Community Library - Where aspirations meet access and technology to democratise opportunity As access expands, one gap still remains, devices. Many of our aspirants prepare for exams on small mobile screens, straining their eyes and limiting their learning. If you have laptops, tablets, Kindles, computer systems, or large LED screens in good working condition that you can give away, your support can make a real difference. These devices can turn long hours of effort into more effective, dignified preparation. If you’re able to help, please reach out to us, your unused device could become someone’s pathway to opportunity. For years, preparing for competitive exams and jobs meant leaving home, migrating to nearby cities, paying high rents, enrolling in costly coaching centres, and studying in cramped rooms away from family and support systems. Today, aspirants sit here at the library, studying with focus, discipline, and hope. With access to books, a quiet learning space, and technology-enabled resources like online lectures, recorded classes, and digital materials, preparation no longer requires migration. At Bansa Library, technology bridges the gap, bringing quality learning tools to the village, reducing costs, and allowing aspirants to prepare with dignity, right where they belong. #BridgingTheGap #FreeLibrary

Exciting News! Our founder, Jatin Lalit, has been selected as a Wipro Education Fellow, a prestigious three-year fellowship by the Wipro Foundation that empowers early-stage changemakers to strengthen public school systems and drive systemic improvement in Indian education. 1/2

Grateful to share that I’ve been selected as a Wipro Education Fellow. This 3-year fellowship is an opportunity to deepen my work with @BansaLibrary learning, reflecting, & contributing towards systematically strengthening public school systems and expanding equitable education.

We understood very early on that if the library stayed within four walls, it would always feel distant from the people who need it the most. That’s why we walk. Because a book only matters when there is trust first and when relationships are built. Hence, we walk.

Community walks are where our library truly begins. Before books reach shelves, before children gather to read, and before new members walk into the library, we step out into the community. We walk through lanes, fields, courtyards, and homes, taking the time to sit, listen, ask questions, and learn. These walks allow us to understand the everyday realities of the people we serve and to remain deeply connected to their lives. At Bansa Community Library, community walks are one of our most important tools to stay rooted in the community. They help us reconnect with existing members, reach those who have never entered the library, and understand how reading and learning fit into people’s daily routines. Our librarians meet mothers, children, elders, and first generation learners, listening to their stories, challenges, and aspirations around education. What we hear during these conversations directly shapes our work, from the books we bring in to the programmes we design and the way the library evolves as a shared space. A library cannot remain alive within four walls alone. It must keep stepping out, meeting people where they are, and building relationships over time. Community walks remind us that the library is not just a building filled with books, but a living relationship built on trust, presence, and continuous dialogue. This is how we stay connected, how we remain relevant, and how we grow together as a community. #FreeLibrary

Many children and students wait for books and study material. If you’d like to support our free community libraries, you can contribute to our book campaign here: give.do/fundraisers/he… Thank you for all your trust & support in Free Libraies. Please contribute!