A library for kids, finally!

TSHERING EDEN
GANGTOK, 09 Oct: Named after the children’s classic, Lewis Caroll’s “Through the Looking Glass”, Gangtok now has its first public library for children located in the heart of the capital at Hospital Dara in Hotel Mist Tree Mountain.  With the reading and library culture in the state yet to gain a firm foothold, a facility such as this, was sorely needed.
The state managed ‘community library’ at Development Area has sadly failed to engage the community so far and in the midst of its transformation into Manan Kendra, the shifting of some government departments at the new structure post last year’s earthquake, the library, well, has lost the distinction of being even the landmark it used to be.
In such backdrop, comes TTLG – an initiative borne more out of filling this gap than anything else. The idea of starting a children’s library took shape when Hema Choksi, a mother of two, realised that Gangtok did not have such a facility for her two book-obsessed boys. Having spent her childhood and much of her adult life in the United States, libraries were an intrinsic part of Hema’s life.
“There were two public libraries in my block which I used to frequent”, says Hema, a book lover herself. However, after deciding to settle down in Sikkim with her Sikkimese husband, architect Prashant Pradhan and with their two sons aged 7 and 4, Hema missed the library culture which was so much a part of her life in the US.
The library opened its doors to readers in the second week of September and currently houses around 800 books for children up to the age of 12 including some for parents and teachers. Most of the books have been sourced from the US while there are also some from other countries including Indian publications.
“We have tried to get a wide range of books especially those based on this region. So we also have Norbu’s New Shoes by a Sikkimese author while there are others set around this region”, informs Hema and adds that the collection will expand with time.
Apart from books, the library also has toys for kids which are what Hema describes as mostly ‘manipulatives’, meant to help the child learn and hone his or her motor skills. “For younger kids we have books with thick and hard pages so that they can easily turn the pages themselves and handle them better”, says Hema.
The basic aim of TTLG is to promote the habit of reading amongst children which according to Hema can be started very early on. “I think there is a popular misconception that reading to a child or encouraging them to read in the early years is not really fruitful. But my experience with my two sons has been totally different. Reading aloud to them accelerated the pace at which they understood what different words meant”, she expresses.
Reading offers a very different kind of exposure to kids which is more active spurring their imagination into different directions as compared to watching TV which is passive, she adds.
At present the library has seven members. There are two types of membership plans on offer; a yellow plan and a green plan. The plans differ in terms of the number of items that can be borrowed at a time. The membership fee for the yellow plan starts from Rs 1,425 and the green plan starts from Rs 4,650.

The monthly fee is Rs. 200 for the yellow plan and Rs. 300 for the green plan. Rs. 1,425 for the yellow plan includes the registration, refundable deposit and three months fees.
The green plan starts from Rs. 2,025 (covering fee for three months, registration and deposit). Rs. 4,650 covers green plan fee for an entire year.

As in the children’s classic where Alice walks through a mirror to an alternative world, Hema hopes that TTLG will offer children of the capital a whole new world of fun, entertainment and learning.
The library is open Monday-Saturday from 10 AM to 6 PM.