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A new WORLD for children
`KUNJUNNI.. KOCHUNNI..' so drawled the voice of the well known children's poet, Kunjunni Master, punning on his name as he made the youngsters, comprising mainly of students of the Saraswati Vidya Mandir, repeat what he said after him. "You must read," he exhorted the young ones, "because all good things come from reading." He himself had acquired much knowledge of national leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, whom he had seen, from books he had read. He broke into spontaneous verse even as the audience he was regaling took up the refrain of his chant.
This delightful interaction between Kunjunni Master and his audience took place at the opening ceremony of a new library exclusively for children at Mattancherry. The Y.N.P. Trust, to which this children's library was a new addition, is already a well-known institution in this area. This institution became a reality when a group of people close to the late N. Govinda Pai decided to open a library to give an impetus to the intellectual and cultural milieu in the area. Built around an initial collection of books owned by Govinda Pai, the library, housed in a building constructed for the purpose, now has 22,000 volumes, which are accessible to the public. This library, which was inaugurated on September 4, 1971, already had besides its encyclopaedias, dictionaries and other books a good collection of children's literature both in Malayalam and English. But a need was felt to not only have a separate section for children with the already existing volumes but to add special children's literature to the collection. This was done, keeping in mind the need of today's students as well as the changing techniques in education, which have led to the production of differently conceived books.
Young children, right from kindergarten to a much later stage would find these books appealing. The range is fairly wide and Swarnalata G. Pai, who is closely associated with the project, points out that she hopes to keep adding to the collection as and when the right books come along. The project has received donations from the family and several friends have promised to help out by donating books.
For those who are curious about the range there are scientific and literary encyclopaedias, both for the young and the very young. Perennial favourites like Enid Blyton and Hardy Boys naturally figure in the collection and so does Harry Potter. The Indian milieu is not neglected, in fact it is very well represented in the form of collections of folk tales, moral stories, stories from Kalidasa and the Hitopadesha and Panchatantra, famous classics retold, a picture book of national symbols and so on. For the infant library the books have been graded quite well specially in the toddlers section. Ms. Pai is very enthusiastic about the See and Learn Series, which imaginatively combines pictures and text to provide and easily graspable educational aid. She also feels the mother can read the text and explain the usage to the children considering how well the information is set out.
With the Saraswati Vidya Mandir school on the same premise she is confident that its teachers and young students would put these books to good use. Many of the members of the library would not be able to afford to buy these books own their own, she adds.
The Malayalam section is also interesting, though many of the books belonged to the main library once. Some of the representative authors include Sippy Pallipuram, Kunjunni Master, and Chemmanam Chacko. It has the 160 volumes of the `Mahacharita Mala;' set of books such as the `Swathanthryathinte Katha," and `Lokarashtrangal.' There are also a few Malayalam publications by the National Book Trust and Children's Library. A virtual treasure to begin with. The library also subscribes to various children's magazines and periodicals.
A perfect ambience, with child level furniture and large cut outs of cartoon characters and animals, has been created for the children who use the library premises to read the books. Ms. Pai only hopes that the library will be put to maximum use and will be a place where children can explore the world they live in through its resources.
PRATIMA ASHER
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