Hippocampus helps you start a kids’ library right at home, finds Amrita Gupta.
Shyamli Mehra, until recently, rued the fact that living in Kumara Park West, her two children, aged five and two, were denied the privileges of a good library in the neighbourhood. “In north Bangalore, there are barely any options for children’s activities,” she said. Mehra had heard of Hippocampus, a library with over 10,000 books for kids in Koramangala that a couple, Umesh and Vimala Malhotra, had set up in 2003. Mehra spoke to the Malhotras about having a library in her part of town and the idea of Hoo’s Corner took shape.
“We envisioned a library within reach of every child, but this isn’t something we can do by ourselves,” explained Malhotra. “People who want to set something up in their home can become members, borrow books in bulk and exchange them on a monthly basis,” she said. “Based on what the kids want, I pick about 200 books from Hippocampus,” said Mehra. With a subsidiary mini-library initiative in Kumara Park that now boasts 15 members of its own, the Malhotras hope it is the first in a network of Corners in the city.
Like the parent library, the tiny area is decorated like a child’s room: there are colourful mats, cloth wall-hangings, toys scattered around, beanbags, and two shelves in a corner hold about 500 books. Malhotra said both Hippocampus and Hoo’s Corner use an arrangement that is as far removed from the Dewey decimal system as one could get. “Books for younger readers are kept on easy-to-reach lower shelves,” she laughed. “It works better that way.” Mehra added, “Many parents think that if their child can’t read yet, there is no point in joining a library.” But she feels it is between the ages of three and six that “kids really develop a love for books”. Vimala Malhotra agreed: “Our youngest member is a ten-month-old. When parents foster the habit of being around books and spend time reading to their child, books become a need very early on.”
When the Malhotras moved back to India from the US, they found there was a real dearth of reading material for children. “Though we knew what we wanted to do, we had no guidelines with which to work. We didn’t have a clue about library science,” she recalled. “All we knew was that the idea of a library had to be changed from being a staid, dull place to being someplace where there is always something new to discover,” said Malhotra, pointing out the coloured mosaic tiles, the open air feel, the outdoor play area and doodle-friendly walls of the library that they built.
To reach out to more people, and when parents can’t make it to the library, Hippocampus and Hoo’s Corner also home-deliver books. “If you can order a pizza, why not a book?” reasoned Malhotra. Both Vimala Malhotra and Mehra are keen to get parents more involved. “They’re happy to pitch in when we need a pair of extra hands, and even when families travel abroad, they’re on the lookout for interesting finds to bring back for us,” said Malhotra. “As and when children grow out of their books, parents can donate them to add to our collection,” Mehta added. “No parent can keep buying as many books for children as they’d like,” she pointed out, “and this way all kids get more to choose from.”
Photography by : Vivek m
Source : Time Out Bengaluru ISSUE 3 Friday, August 20, 2010
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Shyamli Mehra, until recently, rued the fact that living in Kumara Park West, her two children, aged five and two, were denied the privileges of a good library in the neighbourhood. “In north Bangalore, there are barely any options for children’s activities,” she said. Mehra had heard of Hippocampus, a library with over 10,000 books for kids in Koramangala that a couple, Umesh and Vimala Malhotra, had set up in 2003. Mehra spoke to the Malhotras about having a library in her part of town and the idea of Hoo’s Corner took shape. 