Community Libraries as Places of Justice, Resistance, and Repair

• In Event: A South Asia exploration of shadow education, decolonization concepts in libraries and curriculum, and transformational leadership

Proposal

Public libraries are seen as “local gateway(s) to knowledge” responsible for providing access to all kinds of information and knowledge to its members (UNESCO, 1994). Though India has had a long tradition of public libraries–the public library movement started in the early 19th century, and various government programs have been initiated in the last several decades, no concentrated effort has been made towards creating a national policy for public libraries (Balaji et. al., 2018) that could eventually help align public libraries to their role as centers not only for literary activity but also important sites for social activity and inclusion, and learning (Author 2, 2023). The public library system in India largely perpetuates exclusionary practices by mandating identity proof, charging membership fees and penalties, creating spaces that block easy access to books (for e.g. having closed shelves) and an outdated library collection. Designed as quiet reading spaces, these public libraries also become sites of suppression as they reinforce the misinformed notion that education is a solitary endeavor. These structures only solidify barriers to reading and exclude the public from accessing these libraries as community spaces.
In the absence of guidelines, policies, and the related support that could emanate from policy initiatives, the role of public libraries as centers of learning, information, and knowledge and as free spaces is being increasingly taken up by independent/ nonprofit organizations in a citizen-led effort. They work towards not only creating free library spaces but also designing programs and a library curriculum that serve the most underserved communities and regions in India (Rao, 2023). In this paper presentation, we share initiatives by the ‘Free Community Libraries’ in India that work towards investigating and addressing the inequitable distribution of resources and exclusionary practices that disproportionately impact historically excluded communities. Through programmatic interventions that include creating critical curriculum with their communities and creating libraries as a ‘free’ space, ‘Free Community Libraries’ challenge exclusionary practices by advocating for a ‘Right To Read’ for all, free choice, and a wide access to books as part of free membership. Through their policies and curriculum, they advocate for free choice, for the freedom to access the library and the freedom to think critically.
Aligned with the call of CIES 2024 “The Power of Protest”, the free community libraries are engaged in practices that emerge from an understanding that reading is a form of justice, resistance, and repair. The barriers to reading and reading critically extend beyond infrastructure, and these community libraries are moving away from being just a repository of books and moving towards being sites of reading, collective thinking and dialogue.
One of the community libraries in New Delhi, which has been advocating for a national library policy, translates its curriculum into practices of “All are Welcome”, “Pyar Se” (With Love) and “Reading is Thinking”. These practices form the core of its programming and are fighting to build libraries as cultural community centers. Through their constant work to understand their readers’ needs they have built a collection of books in Hindi, English, Bangla, Dari, Pashto, and Urdu. The open shelves in the library are not just placeholders for books but invite readers to examine and articulate the structures within which we operate. The ‘Reading for Justice’ section initiates dialogue on gender, caste, Islamophobia and disability. This is further explored in read-aloud, rules and policies.
The community in which this library works is primarily a migrant settlement. Many adults in the community have either dropped out of school or have never been to one. They have been excluded from education due to their gender, class and caste locations. The historical exclusion has not only been a barrier but has also created a fear to access these spaces. The community library works to address the layers of exclusion by creating programs such as Adult Literacy and Reading Circle. Through these programs, it has also established its role in that cultural community center. People of all age groups use the library space to read, think, learn and get together.
Read-aloud pedagogy in community libraries invites all readers including those who have been kept out of education spaces and silenced historically with their experiences often erased, to engage in a critical justice oriented dialogue and also agitate against structures that erase and isolate them. The regular read-aloud programs in these libraries create a space for members to question, critique, and reflect on voices and representation in literature. This pedagogy centered on critical thinking and a justice oriented curriculum is an act of active repair that transforms and organizes individuals into a community of thinkers engaged in evolving dialogue while also building meaningful relationships with the community
By making information accessible that is otherwise encoded in literacy and digital access, these free community libraries are also sites of protest. It acknowledges people’s right to accurate information related to healthcare, education, rations and public services. The lack or inaccessibility of information is oppressive, and the work of justice requires challenging this. The curriculum then is not limited to programs but takes the discourse of challenging, undoing, resisting and repairing oppressive practices. It is not a structure of suppression but rather a dialogue to challenge fear, silence and erasure.
Within the library, the curriculum is a practice of justice, power, community, and love. The act of love is a work of justice that challenges the dominant structures of caste, class, gender, religion, ableism, and race. Love in the library is when people come together to write their own stories with freedom, with their own voice and with their presence.

Authors

• Amita Nowal, The Community Library Project

• RABANI GARG, University of Pennsylvania