From Waste To Words: Garbage Dump In Delhi Repurposed Into Library To Benefit Marginalised People

Information poverty, as defined by the United Nations, is the "inequitable distribution of information sources and content leads to a generation of children who are not able to access the ideal mix of information necessary for them to be successful in life," is one of the growing concerns among developing countries such as India.

It is said to often stem from a range of causes ranging from lack of appropriate content, infrastructure or even biases in terms of ethnicity, belief, and culture. In the case of India, a country known to be brimming with quality literary resources, the appropriate content has not reached the masses even despite its availability. The concern would then be shifted to infrastructure.

A recently proposed initiative by the East Delhi Member of Parliament (MP) Gautam Gambhir presented a simplified solution to this concern of lack of infrastructure.

Library Out Of A Garbage Dump

Looking at a municipal corporation garbage dump, not many would view it as a space capable of building and exchanging information. The MP of East Delhi envisioned this differential idea and, along with the corporation, built a brand new library in the place where a dump yard existed a few months back.

The Shaheed Bhagat Singh Jan Library (SBSJL), named after the revolutionary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, aims to benefit the 'marginalised' communities in the trans-Yamuna area. It was an initiative that was discussed early in the month of March and was set to be opened on the line of community kitchens run by him in the region.

Breaking Through Information Poverty 2,000 Book At A Time

The library was opened with the idea of eradicating information poverty and ensuring that even the marginalised communities have access to content. It would have multiple provisions in the form of online and offline knowledge resources that can be accessed by the many young adults and seniors in the community.

The initiative which is to be launched in the first week of October measures up to 1,500 square feet (sqft) and houses over 2,000 books, including books written in Braille script. Many similar projects will soon appear in the localities of Shahdara, Trilokpuri, and Mayur Vihar.

A report by the New Indian Express quoted MP Gambhir saying that it would "make a significant contribution to creating a literate community and society by engaging themselves in the larger realm of learning." In connection to this, the MP said that they also aim to introduce other provisions such as skill development, community engagement, and awareness session programmes within the library.

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