Daan Utsav
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This Daan Utsav we want to ignite a Reading Movement to help children across India inculcate the habit of reading. Our goal is to set up joyful reading spaces for children and unlock the magic of reading in their mother tongue languages.
Embracing the Spirit of Giving
Daan Utsav, or the Joy of Giving Week is India’s biggest festival of giving celebrated from October 2nd to October 8th. This week-long festival celebrates the power of a community that comes together to share their time and resources.
In 2022, 40 organisations and individuals collaborated with us to set up libraries across the country. 30,000+ Pratham Books storybooks in Bengali, Kannada, Odia, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, etc were distributed.
In 2021, a crowdfunding campaign set up by Shiksharth Trust broke records by raising libraries for 64 community libraries and schools in Chhattisgarh. Over 40,000 children in the district of Sukma, a region adversely affected by political conflict benefitted from this campaign when they raised 6 lakhs within a span of one month. Watch this interview with Ashish Shrivastava, the founder of Shiksharth Trust to learn more about the scale of the campaign and its immense impact.
What is the need we are aiming to fulfill?
Research shows that 1 out of 2 children in India cannot read at their grade level. Most children do not have a conducive reading environment at home and a school library is the only source of books. But libraries in rural schools are under-resourced and do not have books that are age-appropriate and written in mother tongue languages
Global research is conclusive in demonstrating that merely providing a library-like atmosphere often encourages children to spend more time learning to read, reading more, and loving to read. Emerging readers enjoy flipping through colourfully illustrated books that slowly introduce them to the magical world of reading. Older children benefit from storybooks that expose them to the world around them and familiarise them with concepts that help them later in life. They also need books that reflect the diverse and multicultural nature of our society.
We want to Inculcate the Habit of Reading among Early Readers.
Donate-a-Book has, in the past, collaborated with community libraries, nonprofit organisations, government schools, volunteers and social workers across India to share the joy of reading. We believe in the transformative power of picture books for children and their ability to empower young minds. The funds received in our crowdfunding campaigns are used to get delightful storybooks from Pratham Books in many Indian languages. Our books ignite curiosity and spark creativity. By sharing the gift of storybooks, we can make a lasting impact and unlock a world of possibilities for children who need them most.
Know more about Pratham Books – Click here
What are we offering?
Joyful Story Books: With colourful illustrations, localised content in Indian languages, and easy access, our books help overcome the barriers to reading. Our books are categorised across four levels- Emergent, Early, Independent and Fluent readers, based on reading proficiency rather than age. This encourages children to read in a non-judgmental way, regardless of their grade level. Each book comes with a coloured reading band and a legend at the back that explains the reading level to the teacher or facilitator.
Portable Library: Guided by the scarcity of infrastructure and resources that most government and affordable private schools face, we designed the Library-in-a-Classroom. It is a portable library that hangs on the wall containing 100 richly illustrated storybooks. Children enjoy invaluable physical proximity to printed books which in turn encourages them to read and develop emotionally and intellectually.
How You Can Participate:
For Corporates & Organisations
Employee Giving: Engage your employees in a meaningful campaign this Daan Utsav and raise a company-wide crowdfunding campaign for a specific community library or organisation.
Matching Grants: The organisation can choose to match the funds raised on the company’s crowdfunding campaign or individual campaigns set up by employees.
Volunteer: Become a Library Champion. Identify a school, anganwadi or community library in your hometown, village or vicinity. Set up a special Daan Utsav crowdfunding campaign on Donate-a-Book and raise funds from your friends and family encouraging them to support your vision. Share the details of your campaign on social media and messaging platforms and encourage others to contribute and participate. Our collective effort can amplify the impact and reach more people.
Please fill in this short form for us to Get in Touch with you – https://forms.gle/4aCgdHTjackbBrAL6
Or, write to Donate-a-Book Manager – Malathi Krishnan at malathi@prathambooks.org
For NGOs, Schools and Individuals
Campaigns: Set up Daan Utsav crowdfunding campaigns on the Donate-a-Book platform. This will enable various Donors and Corporates to identify your cause and choose to support it. Click here to set up your campaign
Beneficiary: Register on this link as a beneficiary to receive books and portable libraries from Pratham Books.
Registration Link: https://forms.gle/hoVw6ZNwtyY2ftENA
Together, let’s start a reading revolution this season of giving!