Nachiket mothers reading with their children

About Us

Our Vision

Nachiket Children's Libraries are committed to instilling and supporting a love of reading in order to improve the learning capabilities and the quality of education for disadvantaged children.

Reading will promote independent thinking thus empowering disadvantaged children to confront and conquer immense inequalities in educational and other opportunities.

Education in the 21st century requires that children be able to learn independently. Therefore the right of every child to globally meaningful education can only be achieved by giving every child the right to become a reader.

What's in a Name?

Nachiket stands for inquisitiveness, courage to raise questions, and willingness to endure any hardships to acquire knowledge. According to the Upanishadic tale, Nachiket fearlessly goes all the way to the Kingdom of Death and confronts Yama, the godd of wisdom. Reading will awaken the Nachiket hidden in every child.

Our History

Nachiket was established in 2004 to improve the access to books for children in Amravati.

Nachiket now has 20 branches in the rural areas surrounding the city of Amravati. A self sufficient, community-oriented method has been adopted for running these village libraries using donated or rented spaces. A current stock of 27,000 books rotated through the libraries, serves over 5,000 children.

To start a new library in a rural area, we usually rent a room that is part of a main dwelling, located centrally in a village. Each Nachiket library is run with the help of volunteers and some paid librarians or trained persons. All libraries are open for four hours after school and the whole day on weekends. Some of our libraries are open in the morning on weekdays as well.

Imagine the thrill of entering a library for the first time. At Nachiket we get to choose a book we like. Now we are discovering the joy of reading and we are grateful for this unique gift.

– Readers from Nachiket's Rural Branches

Room to Read

This room provides a warm, safe, and inviting place where the pleasures of reading are pressure free. The room has beautiful display and attractive furniture. Children find ample space to read, to work on school projects, to take a leisurely look at the display material, to interact with each other, and to hold group activities.

A mother reading to her baby at Nachiket

Early Years Reading Program

This program helps poor children in rural Amravati who otherwise would arrive in grade one without developing proper learning skills. The aim of this program is to ensure that a child starts using library services before she or he goes to school. Nachiket Children's Libraries are assisting parents in getting children ready to read and learn before entering elementary school.

Our Staff

We employ people from local communities. This way it's easier for our staff members to get the community involved and thus build trust. Teachers and people that are associated with the elected governing body are invited to give special presentations and preside over workshops and competitions. Our staff know how to make books and learning fun for the children. Sulochana from Shirajgaon, has even written and directed three plays for her library.

I have a dream job. I know which books will hold children's interest and spur them to read more. I see the tremendous improvement in their vocabulary, writing skill, and in public speaking. Neighbouring villages would also like to have a library just like ours.

– Nachiket Staff Member

Our Geography

Amravati District covers 12,235 km², but is only 0.004% of India. However, it is larger than Lebanon, Qatar, and Jamaica. In Amravati district alone there are 2,607 municipal primary schools to serve the 314,500 students. Our targeted and tailored solutions are developed from the towns and fields and communities in which they are being used.

Amravati District has a population of close to 3 million people, many of whom live in poverty. In 2006 it was named one of India's 250 most backward districts (out of 640). Approximately 13% of the population is illiterate, rising to 24% in rural areas.

The state of Maharashtra (in which Amravati is located) contains more tribal peoples than any other state in India, making up a total of 9.4% of the state population. Due to past and present discrimination these are a disadvantaged group of people. Tribal villages lack basic facilities and have a high prevalence of extreme poverty. As much as 38% of the population is illiterate with a shocking 24% gender gap in literacy rates. Nachiket seeks to address some of the issues these communities face by opening new branches in exclusively tribal regions and delivering high quality educational materials to close the opportunity gap between urban and tribal children.

Nachiket Libraries are inspiring and showing us how to create a love for reading in our children's minds.

– Mrs. Shobha Shyam Pampaliya (A Parent)

Our Activities

At Nachiket we provide a creative learning forum to awaken and support children's intellectual curiosity and imaginative power. Activities such as drawing, painting, storytelling,dance, readings by children's authors, reading out loud in groups, and writing workshops are routinely held. In some libraries, we have monthly interactive science programs that explore various science concepts with the help of experiments. Children are so happy just to get their hands on nice paper and colouring materials that they pour their hearts out. We also offer activities developed by Doorstep School, Pune, to improve children's reading skills. Children enjoy practicing their reading, public speaking, and preforming skills. Girls are winning competitions in schools, are publishing an Amravati newspaper, and are developing a wide interest that is obvious from their hand-written magazine, Inspiration. Some titles include Global Warming, Mumbai Terror Attack, A Famous Museum in Ahamadnagar, and Types of Snakes.

I have a dream job of inspiring love of reading. My aim is to make every student in Satnoor a reader. I have established close links with families, communities and school.

– Ravi (Nachiket Staff Member)

Our Founder

Asha Pawagi grew up in Amravati, Maharashtra and immigrated to Toronto, Canada in 1970 with her husband and two small children. The day she arrived in Canada she became a member of the Toronto Public Library which later inspired her to found Nachiket Children's Libraries in 2004.

Asha earned her Ph. D in biochemistry from the University of Toronto in 1990 and worked in cell membrane research relating to cystic fibrosis, heart disease, and cancer.

A wonderful, fair, and just world of tomorrow has to exist first in a child's imagination. I believe that access to a library ought to be the right of every child born anywhere in the world.

Reading promotes independent thinking, self-respect, and confidence even under the direst conditions. Once you know who you are, you can face and conquer any kind of inequality. Nothing can stop you. Reading fosters the critical thinking skills needed to achieve this goal. We are making a difference one library at a time.

-Asha Pawagi

Yes, we have little education and we do have to work hard at low paying jobs. The joy that Nachiket's storyteller brings to us and to our children, how could we ever describe it? We never imagined that even our little ones would get attached to books. Now we hope that our children, boys and girls, will have a better future.

– Mothers