Bansa Community Library & Resource Centre

Rural Library Movement

Bansa Community Library is the second library in the ‘Rural Library Movement’ – an initiative to set up and sustain community-run libraries in the villages of India. The first library under this initiative was established in Cheruia village (District Balia), and the third – and the most recent one – was set up in Kalyanpur village (District Hardoi). These libraries operate on the same model: locally managed by the community members and remotely supported by volunteers and patrons.

Rural covid relief work

Bansa Community Library’s response to COVID-19

With the onslaught of the second wave of Covid-19, a deadlier and more pervasive spread has been noticed. Bansa Community Library & Resource Centre, owes a social responsibility to the community – especially to Bansa village & the villages in its vicinity – to help out in this unprecedented crisis. Bansa Community Library has started its campaign “Rural Covid Relief Work” and with the following blueprint of functioning.

We have joined hands with the ASHA, ANM and Anganwadi Workers for our Relief Work.

1. Awareness

● Masking
● Handwashing
● Social distancing
● Covid symptoms and Testing.
● Isolation Protocol if covid symptoms are seen.
● Treatment protocol
● Eradication of Vaccine Hesitancy.

Modus operandi:

● A team consisting of ASHA, ANM and Anganwadi Workers along with two volunteers from Bansa Community Library will go door to door to take the temperature and oxygen level readings. During their visit they will also circulate the Awareness Materials in Hindi regarding isolation and treatment protocol.
● Team Bansa Community Library will circulate the material through WhatsApp as well.

2. Equipment

Ensuring that any individual in and around Bansa village who needs the following equipments will have access to them:
● Thermometers
● Oximeters
● Vaporizers & Respitometer
● Sanitizers and soaps
● Masks
● Corona Kit Medicines as prescribed by the Ministry of Health & Welfare

We have made a kit of all of these and kept them at the Library campus and in the Panchayat office and given out as and when needed on a return basis.

3. Coordination

Bansa Community Library’s intervention will be there for searching for Oxygen beds, ICU and plasma. Other than this Team Bansa Community Library will be connecting people who have queries with online consultation platforms which are not as easily accessible in the villages as they are in the cities.

 4. Vaccination

There is a majority of villagers who are unable to register on their own for the vaccine due to a lack of digital literacy, resources. To combat this problem, Team Bansa Community Library will set up two “Vaccination Registration Desks” where two volunteers will register the individuals and book the slots for them. The Vaccination Centre is approximately 12 km from the village, and for exceptional cases we are also providing transportation to the individuals.

5. Food Support and Immunity Boosters.

We will be identifying the families which need immediate Dry Ration and provide them with the required supply. We will also try to identify individuals who have lost their source of income due to covid or have been left with a disability and need aid. For children who have already displayed weak immunity even before the crisis, we will provide them with supplements and increase their resistance to diseases.

The second wave of Covid-19 has hit rural India terribly. Indian villages, severely ill-equipped to deal with this colossal healthcare disaster, are suffering silently. Seeing this in our village, Bansa, and the villages surrounding it, we tried doing our bit by distributing 1700 masks, 60 sanitizers, and 60 rations kits. However, we realise that this is insufficient for a cluster of villages with a combined population of over 11,000. Therefore, we are raising funds to procure basic covid essentials, namely masks, sanitizers, oximeters, thermometers, and vitamin tablets. Please help us by making a monetary contribution or purchasing some of these things for us.