A school dropout, Bipal Rasaily (21) is
running a small library at Munsong about 23 km from kalimpong. Bipal, who works
as a reporter for a local channel based in Kalimpong, felt the necessity of a
library in his area. “I always wanted to give back to the society, and then I
thought, what could be better than education? That is when I started Munsong
Library Institution,” Bipal said.
Started way back in 2011 with 34
books the present strength has gone upto 900 plus where about 70 students have
enrolled themselves. Anmol Gurung, a student who just passed his higher
secondary examination,said,“The library has helped students like me inculcate
the habit of reading. There was no such place where we could go to and search
for books we needed. He thought of the need and started the library in a small
room in his own house which is now of great help.” The 16 x 8 ft library
contains donated books from different people.
Books in English,
Nepali, Hindi and Bengali along with short stories, general knowledge, reference
books are available. However, there is space constraint. A teacher of a
government school has donated ten chairs, after hearing about his motive to
spread knowledge among one and all. “Munsong is a small place...the children
are very talented here but they don’t get a platform to showcase their
talents.” Bipal appealed to one and all to donate books which are lying in
their houses unlooked for. Kalimpong Krishak Kalyan Sangathan , a federal based
organisation of farmers, too visited the library and congratulated Bipal on his
effort and hard work. Bishnu Chhetri has assured them of providing the library
with bookshelves, a computer. Meanwhile, when asked about state aid for the
library, District Library Office Amrit Subba said there are some procedures to
be followed. SDO Kalimpong Nirmalya Gharami said that there is a separate
office where library registration is done.