WHO WE ARE

A non-profit organization with a young spirit and a powerful mission

We put a Clifford growth chart in every library center we establish. We then ask the children to monitor how their mind grows as their body grows in the Kitab Korner. "At 4 feet you can read words, at 4 feet six inches you should tackle paragraphs and at 5 feet whole books!"

The Kitab Korner Educational Foundation is a Section 25 non-profit organization with a young spirit and powerful mission. Directed by three college students and one mom, KKEF aspires to give every underprivileged child the opportunity to read their way to a better life; to "padho aur badho" or to "read and grow"

A message from the founder

Because I have travelled extensively, lived in many countries and been deeply involved in Community Service since sixth grade, I have been made very aware of an apparent fact - there is an obscene amount of inequality in this world. A large part of why our world is consumed by depression, paranoia, anxiety and consequently violence is due to this inequality. Macroeconomics has shown us that there are three root causes as to why some countries are less developed or poorer than others; the reasons are - saving patterns, population growth and education. In order to instill more balance in this world, in order to foster peace, it is critical that we educate the youth and the women in developing countries. As my favorite author Dr. Seuss wrote, "The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go."

During the Summer of 2007 I volunteered with an NGO in Bhopkhel Village, Pune and personally witnessed that in order for a child to simply pass, let alone succeed, in the public education system in India (which is standardized by national examinations), it is imperative that the child turn to educational resources, specifically the internet and a variety of textbooks, outside of school. Needless to say, underprivileged children cannot afford these extra textbooks. Therefore, how can an underprivileged student write an essay on the Roman Empire if they do not own a single book with the word Rome in it? How can a student be expected to pass the National Math Exam if they only have one tiny math book to practice the problems out of?

The lack of an answer to these questions inspired me to establish a library center in Bhopkhel Village during the summer of 2008. This library center was later named "Kitab Korner" and was given the slogan, "padho aur badho". 'Kitab' translates to book in Hindi and Urdu. The slogan of the organization, "padho aur badho," translates to "read and grow."

The first Kitab Korner library center is run by the Bhopkhel Village community, for the community. It is a place where the children and women of the community can read English, Hindi and Regional Language books, check out books, and attend bi-weekly activity sessions. The activity sessions include book discussions, guest lecturers who talk about a chosen book and the main topic of that book, creative writing sessions where the children write and then compile stories into their own book for the library etc... The Kitab Korner wears the facade of a simple library but at its core, it is a resource center where underprivileged yet curious and enthusiastic women and children can come to read their way to a better life.

When I visited Bhopkhel Village during the summer of 2009, the children ran to me and told me (in fluent English, I might add) how much they loved their Kitab Korner, how they used it every day, and how it was the center of all educational activity in the village. They made requests for books. The librarians (Supriya and Kajol) proudly showed me the catalogue and check-out registers. One eleventh grade student even told me that she had read all 350 books that had originally been shelved in the library. I quizzed her. And guess what? She was telling the truth. That is one book a day, for the last year! I later learnt that this girl had achieved one of the highest scores in Maharashtra for the tenth grade Board Exams.

The success of the first Kitab Korner library center went beyond our expectations. What started as a summer project is now the Kitab Korner Educational Foundation. We create Kitab Korner library centers in underprivileged communities, with the goal of 100 Kitab Korner library centers by December 2011.

As we reflect on the past, work in the present, and look to the future we constantly strive to progress. Currently, we are looking to make a greater impact in a shorter period of time, to building more partnerships for future libraries, to gathering sponsorships which will sustain us in the long-term, to developing methods which will allow us to quantitatively assess the effectiveness of each Kitab Korner. Always, we are looking to give every underprivileged child the opportunity to read their way to a better life.

Poorvi Kunzru
KKEF Founder and President
August 2009