Sepehr Library

Geographical Location: Sepehr Library, Mehr-e-Taha Elementary School, Ghassemabad village, Kerman
Members:
Start Date: May 2019
Supporter: Noushin Razavi

GhassemAbad, an arid village in Kerman Province, has been struggling with drought and economic issues for years. With an agriculture-based economy, this village consists of houses in between fields and palm trees.

Before Mehr-e-Taha Charity established a school with up-to-dated equipment in 2016, this village lacked proper education and leisure amenities. In 2018, the Institute for Research on the History of Children’s Literature and Mehr-e-Taha Charity came together to implement the Read with Me program in the school library. By creating a child-centered space with accessible quality books, Read with Me hoped for children’s growing enthusiasm for learning. Noushin Razavi, with belief in the importance of reading quality books during childhood, financially supported this library in memory of her son “Sepehr”.

Establishing the Library

After the school librarian participated in Read with Me workshops, Read with Me experts designed the library space and prepared the books and the necessary equipment. In April 2019, it finally led to the establishment of Sepehr Child-centered Library.

Equipping this library took place with the cooperation of locals. Students would sometimes peek inside, ask questions and skim through the books. In the meantime, the Read with Me team took this opportunity to explain methods of librarianship to the school librarian. A number of mothers had also come to visit the library with their children, which were quite welcome by the team and were advised to use the library alongside their children.

The librarian participated in read-aloud workshops. Considering the needs of nearby villages, she started holding read-aloud sessions in Kahurbagi village as well as Ghassemabad. Equipping the library with several copies of the same books has allowed her to take books in her book backpack, hold read-aloud sessions and even lend some of them to children of nearby villages.