When the bell announces the end of a school day at 4pm, nine-year-old Muskaan, a resident of the slums of Arera Hills in Bhopal, is among the first to rush home. She is followed by her classmates, who wait patiently outside.
She then sets up a library, that consists of 119 books, on ropes that are tied outside her home. The waiting children have the option of either listening Muskaan read out a story to them from among the books, or taking one of the books to read it themselves.
Muskaan runs the Bal Pustaklaya in Bhopal with the assistance of her elder sister, who is in class 7 and keeps a proper record of all the books, reports The Times Of India.
Muskaan was discovered by the state education board when she participated and won in one of the quizzes conducted by them.
When asked if she wanted to run a library in the slum, she agreed and the state education board provided her with the 119 books that now constitute the library.
“I love doing this. Other children in slum area take books and then return other day. Some stay back to read here with me and ask questions where they don’t understand,” Muskaan told The Times Of India.
Here’s a video of how the library is run.