Happy Birthday Gyan Library!

Gyan Library completed one year today! The story is nothing short of amazing and we are very proud of how the library has grown.

Our Journey:

We started on Sept 5, 2021 just as the 2nd COVID wave was ending.

Our first stop was for 3 hours - Sunday 5pm-8pm. We had just 6 evening stops!

Soon we realized that 3 hour stops are too long. We then moved to 1.5 hour stops and doubled to 12 evening stops - all in Borivali West.

Then in November, we expanded to Kandivali with 24 stops and now finally we have 30 stops with 2 of them in Malad.

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The library has grown quite nicely. Here are some charts:

#New books added each month

We started with ~2,500 books and now we have 7,000+. Adding an average of ~300 books per month

#New members each month

Without any advertising, we are growing at a steady pace of around 100-150 new members per month

#Checkouts (books read) each month

We have stabilized at a rate of around 5,500 books per month. Hope to increase this over time. We can support a higher rate.

Challenges

We faced several hurdles:

1. Book maintenance

Most of our books are new or like-new when we add them. But the wear and tear starts showing quickly.

We had to add plastic covering on all of our paperback books to increase their lifespan

The time needed to fix/clean/cover the books is a never ending activity and something we underestimated

2. Space in our van

We have utilized every inch of the van for books but we still need more space. Feedback from parents has always been for more books. We have > 1000 books waiting for space in the racks. We are welcome to any suggestions that help solve this issue.

3. Battery

Within a week of starting, the battery kept getting discharged at our stops. So we added an extra car battery. But to charge that extra battery would cost Rs. 100 per day.

Instead, we created our own solution. We installed solar panels on top, which is free energy and eco-friendly

4. Rains

When we started last year, the rainy season was just ending. Still, holding an umbrella and scanning books using a mobile was proving quite hard!

This year, we designed a retractable roof. It had to be simple enough for one person to pull out. But also strong enough to survive Mumbai rains.

5. Repairs

Over the past year, we have replaced 5 tyres and multiple engine parts. It was extremely challenging to do all this while keeping to our schedule of stops.

Events

To keep kids interested, we held a few events. Each was unique and fun.

Oct 21 - Writing contest

Mar 22 - Holi Art contest

Apr 22 - Earth Day - solar panel demos

Aug 22 - Independence Day contest

We plan to hold more such events this year and keep trying new things each time

Future

Gyan Library is now a registered non-profit company. We have 12A/80G certifications from income tax department which will help us get more funding.

Our plan is to seek funds from large MNCs. We will always keep our library free and accessible.

Once we get some external funding, we will expand further - hire more staff and add new locations.

We are very thankful to all the parents for the amazing support.

We are aware that our mobile library has its limitations and it can be stressful to meet timings. We have decided to make the one-week grace period permanent. Kids can now keep the books they like for up to 3 weeks (2 weeks regular + 1 week grace period)

Many thanks from the Gyan Library team 🙏