In a village two hours out of Calcutta stands a three-storey white mansion built in the British colonial style. Inside, five-year-old Moumita Sikari is learning 'C' for 'CAT', which means beral. Homemaker Kakoli Halder is reading up on children's tales because her daughter demands a story for every meal. "A mother is always in need of new stories," she laughs.

BCA student Biplab Halder is learning MS Word in Bengali, BEd student Labani Kayal is looking for a reference book and 19-year-old Sudeshna Haldar is taking her first tailoring exam.

This is Oceanic Library, a community library in Ullon village in South 24-Parganas, which has transformed the lives of over 15 villages in its vicinity. Named after the nearby Sunderbans delta, Oceanic Library is partnered by Vivekananda Sevakendra-O-Sishu Uddyan (VSSU), an organisation founded by micro-credit maverick Kapilananda Mondal, and supported by Read India.

Recognising Mondal's vision, in 2011 VSSU was awarded special consultative status by ECOSOC of the United Nations for community development, micro finance and education.

"I wanted that this area should have a place where students could come and read to supplement their formal education. I also wanted people to have a place where they can develop skills to improve their employability," Mondal told Metro while sharing his vision for Oceanic Library.

Started in 2008, this unique library was the first project of Read India, which is a part of Read Global. Read India builds community libraries across the country and helps local residents run them for a few years. The community has to become self-sufficient within a short time, managing the library and raising its own funds. So, while one library might rent out a part of its premises to a bank, another might start a fish farm or a buffalo dairy.

He had a business plan!

Learning about Read Global's partnership criteria, Mondal had a business plan ready when the Read Global team came visiting, which is what floored former American senator Omer L. Rains.

"I go all over the world, I've been to some 150 countries... I was the international chair of Read Global. And the reason I selected this place for the first Read India project was because of Mr Mondal's leadership qualities and his vision for the community. And he had a business plan! Usually we have to first explain what a business plan is and then help the communities develop one but when I came here, for the first time ever, I saw a business plan," recalled Rains.

"It was evident that they had been doing wonderful things for the community long before I came. They presented me with a model of a library building inspired by British colonial architecture. They didn't have an architect or a contractor but they said they would build this library if they had the funds. And I said, I believe you," said Rains, who was visiting the library with his family to celebrate his 75th birthday with Mondal and his team a few days before Durga Puja.

The Oceanic Library has rented out one of its floors to a BEd college, which makes it a perfect place for students like Labani.

"While I was doing my master's, the books and reference material I got from this library was very helpful. Now I am training to become a teacher in the BEd college so that I can find a job and fund my dream of doing a PhD in history," said the soft-spoken girl who walks for 30 minutes every day to reach the library.

Library is a safe place

For Sarmistha Halder, who is doing a computer training course here, the library is a "safe place". "Parents are always worried about the safety of girls, they don't want us to go out by ourselves. But they know this is a safe place, so they allow us to come here," said the resident of Daulatpur, which is about an hour by bus and auto from the library.

According to Kalpana Dasgupta, former librarian of the National Library and a founder-member of the Read India advisory board, creating a "safe space" for the women of the community is very important. "The library has to be a place where they feel safe, a place where they want to come, a place where families are comfortable sending their daughters and daughters-in-law. Apart from access to books and journals, they can enrol themselves in vocational courses like tailoring or handicrafts-making or computer training."

The library also runs a children's skill development centre, where they are taught with visual aids and have access to a selection of toys and games that help in cognitive development. There are also children's books.

Dasgupta said the children's collection needs to be updated. "Children do not take to old books. One has to provide them with new material on a regular basis," she told librarian Krishna Mondal.

Oceanic Library currently had 730 members. When Metro had last visited in 2009, a year after the library started, there were 35 members.

Schools had no books

Rains, who has served in the California Senate, said that when he first came here, he realised that people had no access to any books.

"The schools had no books apart from textbooks. Zero. I went to a school, built by the Brits in the 1830s. It was full of beautiful little girls. But no books. There were some dusty cabinets with a few magazines inside, locked up. I asked the teacher, 'Why are they locked?' And the answer was, 'Because the children might steal them.' I said we'd rather have a child so desperate to have something to read that she thinks of stealing it than have children who don't want books!"

Rains the Democrat tries to come to the library almost annually. "It makes me so happy to see that we are touching the lives of people, giving them a chance. I hope we are inspiring the children to remain here and develop the surrounding community, to prevent the migration to the big cities, which leads to overcrowding."

He credits Mondal with the success of the library. "This community is so lucky to have him. He is a true visionary. Mr Mondal truly walks in the shoes of Gandhi. He has lectured at many American universities - Harvard, Yale, MIT, University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Purdue, to name just a few... and also at the UN," said Rains.

Geeta Malhotra, the director of Read India, cites Oceanic Library as a "success story". "We had provided funds to build the ground floor of the library, with just four rooms. Kapilananda Mondal and the people of the community raised enough funds through micro-credit to erect a three-storey building. And we have seen how the community has grown around the library. The local partners were able to carry forward the vision," said Malhotra.

But for Oceanic Library to continue its success journey, it needs continuous inputs. There is need for more computers because it's the most popular course. "Everyone wants to learn computers because it increases employability. We have 35 students at the moment, who come in batches. If we have more computers, many more students will be benefited," said librarian Krishna.

Oceanic Library is a role model because.... Tell ttmetro@abpmail.com