One Library Per Village

innovations

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| Caroline Paul |

imed to reduce the digital divide in India, “One Library Per Village” (OLPV) provides free Internet through tablets or PC’s to students for their educational purpose. A knowledge sharing center, it has the support of 30,000 plus tutors of 2tion, who support almost all subjects.

We meet the man behind OLPV -- Sujai G. Pillai -- who is one of the 20 MyGov Ambas-

sadors selected by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s MyGov Digital India Team and also the brain behind #BookBucket Challenge, ranked among the top five viral marketing campaigns in the world. He is also the founder of 2tion.com, rated as the top e-learning website by “The Economic Times - Oct 1st, 2012”.

Sujai has worked as an educational consultant for World Book and Britannica in Oman

and the UAE and has over 15 years of experience in the field of education. He specializes in ‘Netpreneurship’ (a small start-up which is solely online) and is the co-author of books “Browse and Grow Rich” and “Money From Internet”. He holds an MBA in Marketing and Systems from Madurai Kamaraj University.

Sujai also holds the titles of: Winner of “Limca Books of Record” ( 23rd Edition - 2012)

Bridging the

digital divide

37 15June June--14 14July, July,2015 2015 || GYAN GYAN Vitaranam Vitaranam|| 37 15

for HumThum Apps and Winner of “Best Mobile Apps” award in all India Mobile Apps Competition on August 20, 2011.

1. Could you please explain the concept of ‘One Library Per Village’?

A: OLPV stemmed from my strong belief that libraries around the world play an important role in the dissemination of knowledge. I feel the availability of information resources can often mean the difference between poverty and prosperity, particularly in underdeveloped communities.

With this in mind, I founded “One Library Per Vil38

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lage”, which aims to reduce the digital divide between the urban and rural India, by networking libraries and empowering the readers with latest technological tools and creating a vibrant community of users and volunteers in villages.

OLPV is not just a building stacked with books – it is a repository and source of information and ideas, a community place for learning and inquiry, and for the generation of thought and the creation of new knowledge.

2. What is the current state of digital literacy in India, especially Kerala? How has OLPV impacted this, since its

inception?

A: Currently, in India, approx 40 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line, illiteracy rates are more than 25-30 per cent and digital literacy is almost non-existent among more than 90 per cent of India’s population. Four per cent of our children never start school, while 58 per cent don’t complete primary schools and only 10 per cent goes to college.

Compared to other states, Kerala is doing better in primary education. In Digital Literacy, however, Kerala is far behind its potential. This is primarily because students lack practical skills, even though

they are imparted computer literacy in schools and college. A large majority of people, even those who regularly access the Internet via smart phones, only use it for sharing videos, browsing Facebook or messaging via WhatsApp. This is the beginning and end of Internet usage for them, as they lack the awareness to use Internet for other purposes.

This is where we come into the picture. For example, during “Digital Literacy Week”, held from February 21 to 28, with the support of National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), we ran a literacy campaign in two village libraries.

With the support of local volunteers, we contacted every house in respective areas and as a result, more than 300 people took part in the event. Many participants were first time computer users and a large number of housewives, aged 25 - 60, also learnt how to use computers, tablets and smart phone.

I can proudly state that we brought about an immense transformation in these areas and now, people in these areas are actively participating in social events like tree planting, medical camps, etc., that are being organized by the library. As a result of our efforts, the people have started to see the library not just as a reading place,

but more like a collaborative social activity area.

3. What has been the response to OLPV so far?

A: So far, we have had a very positive response for OLPV from libraries, especially those from the rural areas. Initially, we thought the networking and computer would only support job seekers, but we were pleasantly surprised to see that many housewives are becoming active participants of the initiative and taking it beyond the initial scope of plan.

4. What is your current reach? Where do you see yourself five years down the line?

A: Currently, we test-marketed “One Library Per Village” project in seven

village libraries in Kerala.

The response and result of these initiatives were very good and we are hopeful of a bright future. Another good news is that currently, it’s under consideration of Digital India program of the government.

5. Can you share some of your success stories?

A: We have active user participation in the libraries from villages, where currently, pilot projects are running. We also had immense interest from a few corporates, under their CSR initiatives, and even from a few MLAs and MPs, for considering this under Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) scheme, as well.

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6. How are you spreading awareness about your cause? In other words, how do you ensure you reach out to those in need of your services?

A: We ensure we reach out to our target audience through strategic use of digital media. So far, we have amassed a large number of followers on Facebook and we actively come up with campaigns to spread further awareness about our cause.

For example, one of our campaigns “#BookBucketChallenge” received a lot of attention and was a viral success. In terms of libraries, we are getting a lot of enquiries from libraries, with even city libraries expressing a solid interest.

7. How do you cover the costs associated with providing free Internet? Does the government pitch in?

A: Currently we have absorbed the cost of computer/tablet with donations, with 40

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the libraries providing the Internet. We are actively seeking funding and support from donors, corporate CSRs and the government.

8. Do you have a training system in place?

A: We have a large pool of savvy volunteers who are happy to train the trainer - one of the library users.

The trainer, in turn, trains other students. It’s a volunteer-driven system, and we have seen good support from many people.

9. How many books are currently available in an e-format via OLPV? Do you cater to needs of students of all grades (1-12)? Are there also books for entertainment purposes - fiction/ non-fiction etc?

A: Currently, we have thousands of e-books, spanning across all grades - not only 1-12, but also colleges and vocational education. Many of them were contributed by teachers

through 2tion.com. We actively welcome educational content of all sorts.

10. How about the colleges/ universities? Is OLPV available to students in these institutions? If not, are you planning on expanding the access?

A: OLPV is currently only available to village libraries, since we are looking at serving the segment that does not have privilege of having access to technology, which is readily available in most colleges and universities.

However, if colleges in rural areas need our support, we will definitely help them.

11. How can we support OLPV? A: We would love support from media - a) In helping us spread the word b) In conceptualizing any campaign that you think will help our cause and c) In raising awareness and funds required to scale this initiative. u