We are raising these funds for

National Reading Day is celebrated every June 19th to honour the Father of India’s library movement, P.N Panicker. This year, Keezhvengatapuram village will honour his legacy by setting up the first village library for its children. After a discussion with the village head in Keezhvengatapuram, it was decided that FEMA would use a local space to build the free community library. This project aims at providing them with a variety of age-appropriate books in many languages so they can discover the joy of reading.  I’m Lichu, a fellow at Goonj Chennai. Goonj is a pan-India organisation which aims to bridge the urban and rural divide. As a part of my fellowship, I visited the Keezhvengatapuram tribal colony in Tamil Nadu where volunteers of FEMA (Foundation for Friendly Environment and Medical Awareness) provide free education for 30 children in the area. Unfortunately, these children do not have a safe and conducive environment to read and learn. Funds from this campaign will be used to set up a library for 30 kids in Keezhvengatapuram tribal village in Tamil Nadu. Multilingual storybooks from Pratham Books will introduce the children to magical stories written in English and their mother tongue.  This programme will not only benefit the 30 kids but will also help future generations of the community. We hope to help them understand the importance of reading and how education positively impacts a community for many generations. The library will illuminate the village with knowledge and inspire children to dream bigger and work harder to achieve their goals. Help us make National Reading Day a symbol of new beginnings for Keezhvengatapuram village.