Navegaon Bandh to be as Vidarbha’s first ‘book village’

on Mar 28, 2022

The state government has planned on establishing four book villages on the lines of ‘Bhilar’ village in Satara where thousands of books are available for reading in household libraries and over 30 book shops.

The government has selected ‘Navegaon Bandh’ village from Arjuni Morgaon Tehsil of Gondila district for this project. Navegaon which is known for the national park, bird sanctuary, and tourist destination, will soon also be known as Vidarbha’s first book village where many houses will become libraries to carry a theme-based collection of books.

This was conceptualized in 2017 by the then Education Minister Vinod Tawde. It is based on the ‘Hay-on-Wye’ village in the country of Brecknockshire in Wales. With over 20 bookshops in this town with a population of 2,000, ‘Hay-onWye’ is often described as ‘the town of books’ and the annual Hay Festival is also organized here. On the same lines, Bhilar has a ‘Book Village’ of Maharashtra and an annual literary festival is also organized there. After the success of Bhilar, the state decided to develop one village in every district as a ‘Book Village’.

Navegaon Bandh Foundation, a local art and culture group, was involved in bringing the ‘book village’ status to Navegaon. Ramdas Borkar, secretary of this foundation, said that Navegaon was a perfect fit in the state’s criteria set for the book village project. “A place of tourist attraction, having historical significance, blessed with natural beauty and winner of a cleanliness award were the parameters for the selection. With the help of villagers, Navegaon Bandh has all this,” said Borkar.

Apart from Navegaon Bandh, Verul village in Aurangabad, Pombhurle village in Konkan and Audumbar village in Sangli district have also been shortlisted from their respective divisions for developing them as ‘Village of books’. Maharashtra is the first state in India to work on such an innovative literary concept.

What’s In A Book Village-

> At least 10 book collection halls each sq ft.

> Each hall will have a collection books based on a particular theme.

> Literary events, poetry summits, book publications events etc throughout the year.

> Visits by litterateurs, poets, authors, discussions, debates, symposiums, and much more.

> School and college students, readers’ clubs will plan special visits.

> Villagers will maintain these reading halls with local and government support.