5. Librarian - A key to the world of Knowledge

Sankar hails from a poor family, living in an interior village, where there was no bus facility. He studied from a school which was far away from his village for which he walked for an hour daily. He was good at studies. He wanted to study more. College was in the nearby town. Joining a college was like a Herculean task in terms of fees and transport cost. But he had the desire to achieve BIG and prove himself. His parents were against his education ideas. He being the eldest son, they expected him to join a job and earn. For Sankar, studying in a college was more lucrative than running after money. He would read from the wraps of the groceries. He no longer could hear the discouraging words of his parents and decided to leave to the town.

The next day he landed in the town with nothing in his hand. He accidentally met a hostel warden. He explained his condition and he was allowed to stay in the hostel. His ambition was to join a college. To meet his ends and save money for the fees, he started doing any job, big or small, in the evenings.  He got admitted in the college with the help of the warden. He successfully completed a degree and he prepared himself for the job search. He applied for any competitive examinations.  And he kept on studying and practicing with previous years question papers and many books available in the Library. For Sankar, Library appeared to be a heaven, as he loved books and reading than anything in the world.

He got an opportunity to apply for the job of a Librarian. He loved the job, as it was the dream job, where he can earn for makinge others read and he could read as well the whole day. As he was meritorious enough, he got the job as a Librarian to the village adjacent to his native village. He now became a pride of his family and the village. It’s true, he was the first to join a white collar job from that village.

Being from a rural background and had known how the reading could shape a person to a better personality, he encouraged youth and students to use the library. The library was newly introduced to the village. The villagers came to know about such a facility and decided to make use of it. He spoke to the rural youth and invited them to library and gave exposure about the employment news, and books to be referred / studied so as to equip to face the competitive world. He frequently conducted career guidance courses and also explained the token system of the library, with which they can take books home and read for 15 days and return them back to take new books home. This concept was very new to the villagers.

Few youth of the village got jobs with the guidance of Sankar. On hearing this, many people started coming to the library. Now-a-days, the library is jam-packed; the readers were here not for reading for fun, but to equip themselves. Even girls, who were not used to go out other than school, came to the library. The girls were too excited to read books, especially the voluminous, colorful books in the reference section.

Sankar would suggest the right book to the right person. There was a healthy competition to get the best book first. This reading habit resulted in higher scores in the Board exam results. All students of the village scored good marks and for the first time, there was no one failed in the Board Exams. With Sankar’s Career Guidance sessions, they joined courses in various Institutes of National Importance. The villagers were hearing about such institutes only through Sankar. He also had encouraged the students to prepare well for the competitive examinations for many jobs.

The villagers thanked him for transforming the village through exposing them to the world of Knowledge. This happened on the valedictory function organized by the villagers on the day of his transfer, after a period of three years of his service in the village. 

P.S: Photos Courtesy - Internet.