Rajeev Gautam is a stalwart of India’s education system, having served as a teacher and principal for over 35 years. As the Principal of the Government Senior Secondary School (GSSS) in Darlaghat, he is passionate about education, and a testament to this is the fact that his own son has just been accepted at IIM Ahmedabad.

It is little wonder then that, as a passionate educationalist and reader, Rajeev spearheaded the development of a new Community Library at the school – raising just under Rs. 9 lakh to construct a new building and fit it out.

It all began in April 2023 when the School Management Committee (SMC), along with teachers, highlighted a problem. The library at the school, which caters to over 650 secondary students, was tiny! So tiny that no child could sit and read a book comfortably, and the collection of books was limited to what could fit in a 12x14 square foot room.

Taking up the matter with gusto, Rajeev approached the Deputy Commissioner, Solan, with a proposal. Whilst they agreed it was a worthy project, the funding that ensued was not nearly enough to construct a new library. So he returned to the SMC with the disappointing news.

It was here that the name of Ambuja Foundation was put forward, and Rajeev excitedly outlined the plans for the new library in order to gain their support. Whilst the team at Ambuja Foundation thought it a brilliant project, they too had only limited funds to invest in the fit out of the library project and needed more local ownership. They motivated Rajiv to dig deep and try raising the funds from parents and the community itself, for construction.

So, Rajeev and the SMC got to work, immediately calling a staff meeting where teachers contributed funding, and then going door to door in the community to drum up the rest. In total they raised over Rs. 3.5 lakh whilst Deputy Commissioner Solan contributed Rs. 3 lakh and Ambuja Foundation chipped in to meet the deficit for furniture and fixtures.

In just over a year, Rajeev and the SMC team had done it! Construction of the new library was complete, and all students access it twice a week to borrow books via Library period. But Rajeev’s plans did not end there. Buoyed by their success and achievement, the school now plans to upgrade facilities to provide a digital library – enabling students to access books from the National Library in New Delhi.

Of course, there have been challenges along the way. Currently the post of Librarian is lying vacant, having lost their librarian to a college. In the meantime, teachers are rallying to maintain the library and they hope to have a new appointment soon.

And of course, Rajeev is proud as punch with the results – he himself went to school without a library and wanted to change that for his students, mobilising an entire community to back the idea!