Reviving 'Dying Culture Of Reading': Two Naga Brothers Open Community Library In Remote Village

In a humanitarian gesture, two brothers from Nagaland have come up with a special and significant initiative of creating a community library in their village located in a remote area.

The Kignwema Village in Nagaland lies away from the hustle and bustle of a township, 15kms south of the capital city of Kohima. The self-funded initiative was undertaken by Akho Phira and his brother Thepfukelie Phira and the library was formally opened to the public in July 2021.

Akho Phira (27) currently works at the Centre for Research in Schemes and Politics, Meghalaya. He said that the concept behind the community library came up during a conversation with his elder brother, Thepfukelie.

The idea clicked between the two and the duo quickly got into action.

After the recovery from the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, both wanted to do something for the community and as both were avid readers, they wanted to revive the "dying culture of reading" and make book resources easily accessible through this initiative.

He also said that people from all walks of life come to the community library for their study materials and research.

"It's going to be two years now since we started and we have achieved two major milestones ", Akho said as they have been able to start two similar modules in another village under Phek district, Nagaland.

Akho said that they started with a very handful of books from their own personal collections and a few contributions from close friends, however, gradually they started receiving books from the Department of Art and Culture and Forest Department, Nagaland, and with time they started receiving books from Pune, Goa, Bangalore and companies.

"One of the recent support received was from Goonj Assam," he added.

He also informed that the library has a significant connotation as it is one of the typical places of the Angami Nagas. The space also has a significant history attached to it, he said, stating that in the olden days people come for informal discussions, and gatherings and would make public announcements, and as narrated by elders, during the Second World War, the Britishers used the space for keeping tanks and artillery beside the structure, and use the space as a vantage point as it provided a very clear birds eye view of the neighbouring villages and districts even far-flung villages under Phek District.

Further, Akho said "Community and the innovative library is not new thing but it is the persistence and consistency which one keeps following, it is the habit which we keep on inculcating which is actually making our work successful and we actually intend to keep working on it. At the same time, motivate more youngsters not only to keep reading but also to come up with more innovations in future."

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