As part of the ‘Oduva Belaku’ (‘Reading Light’) flagship movement by the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department, Government of Karnataka, Nanna Oletigaagi Granthalaya (My Library for a Better Me) is one of the very few initiatives in the movement offering regular mentorship and one-on-one interactions with children. Trained CMCA Mentors—youth from the local community, mostly young women—are available at the library once every week for 3 hours, to guide and inspire children.
Just as they choose books, children select from hundreds of powerful CMCA activity cards which build key Citizenship Values and Life Skills. The activity cards focus on self-development (resilience, goal setting, financial literacy, appreciation of arts and literature, etc.) and civic skills (gender equality, celebrating our composite culture, living in harmony with nature, working with the government to solve issues, and so on).
Through powerful collectives called ‘Together for Change’ action projects, children form teams and are guided through a step-wise community engagement and problem-solving journey that builds vital 21st-century skills of teamwork and collaboration, confidence, creativity, critical thinking, empathy, and much more. The Together for Change themes include Bird Watching, Critical Thinking, Gender, and Diversity.
In 2022-23, Nanna Oletigaagi Granthalaya (My Library for a Better Me) actively and directly reached 6,000+ children in 55 Panchayat libraries in the Ramanagara and Tumakuru districts of rural Karnataka. We plan to launch the programme in more libraries.
I enjoy the activities very much! Every week, I talk to my mum and dad about the many things I’m learning and how much I’ve changed after coming to the library.
A lot has changed in me since I started coming to the library and doing CMCA’s activities. Now I speak without hesitation and I’m developing my leadership skills. I love the activities. I do them using my own thoughts and learn something new every week.
Since my child joined CMCA, she became more conscious of things in our village and her surroundings—like issues related to safe drinking water. CMCA’s programmes even positively influenced her school performance, and she recently secured the first place in her school exams. I’m very happy that my Indushree is part of CMCA.
CMCA has been accredited by Credibility Alliance under the category “Desirability Norms” – for good governance, accountability, transparency and continuous improvements. Credibility Alliance is a consortium of voluntary organisations committed to enhancing accountability and transparency in the voluntary sector through good governance.
