A professional librarian with a Ph D in the subject awarded by Jiwaji University, Gwalior, Dr Rishi Tiwari has been managing the 35,000-volume library of the Birla Institute of Management Technology, Greater Noida (Bimtech, estb. 1988), since 2004. Simultaneously, with the encouragement of Bimtech, he promotes libraries and library culture in budget schools in the slums of Uttar Pradesh. “Within the past decade, Greater Noida/Noida has transformed into the education hub of UP, and perhaps north India. However, schools for the poor in this region are in dire straits. They don’t have libraries and parents are too poor to purchase books for their children,’’ says Tiwari.

Newspeg. In the past three years, Tiwari has established nine libraries in rural schools/areas. The latest was set up in Dasna jail in Ghaziabad on March 17 and has received an enthusiastic response from the jail’s 4,000 inmates. The Dasna jail library boasts 3,000 titles in multiple genres — Hindi fiction, biographies, English fiction and religious books — and has greatly improved the habits of prisoners, affirms Veeresh Raj Sharma, jail superintendent.

History. In 2009, the Delhi-based Indian Library Association conferred its award of best librarian on Tiwari. At the time, social activist and former Delhi police chief Kiran Bedi and President Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam strongly urged him to pursue his mission in rural UP. In November 2009, the first rural library of Jan Sabaana village near Badli, Ghaziabad, was inaugurated under the aegis of Ranganathan Society for Social Welfare and Library Development, an NGO promoted by Bimtech. “Everyone in the college — including director Dr. Harivansh Chaturvedi — supported this endeavour,’’ says Tiwari.

Direct talk. “Setting up libraries in the budget schools of UP’s slums with the aid and assistance of B-schools and colleges in Greater Nodia/Noida is a win-win formula, which helps poor children to widen their horizons and develop their reading habits for self-improvement. It also exposes B-school students to socio-economic realities. Such experiences improve the social awareness of B-school students,’’ says Tiwari.

Future plans. Tiwari has received an offer from Lucknow district jail to install a library on the lines of Dasna. “We will start working on the project by November after the new 2012-13 batch settles in at Bimtech,’’ he says. Also on his agenda is a weekly event — Library Saptah (week) in Dasna jail, during which debates and quizzes on books will be organised. “In government and rural schools where teacher absenteeism and obsolete curriculums are widespread, libraries which facilitate self-learning are very important institutions. Everyone should encourage their proliferation in urban and rural India,’’ says Tiwari.

Power to your elbow!

Vimal Chander Joshi (Delhi)