Just like with any other start-up, being the sole founder of Let’s Open a Book means I play multiple roles. I’m the organization’s storyteller, library educator, resident artist and art teacher, dance teacher, trainer, operations head, fundraiser, accountant, social media manager, PR person, cleaner etc etc all rolled into one. I am required to switch between these roles multiple times in a day, and more often than not, I play these roles simultaneously. Add to that the fact that when you’re operating in a place that’s at 12,500 ft above sea level, the body functions at only half its usual capacity. During the initial years there were so many days when I would be so overcome with exhaustion that I needed a nap right in the middle of the day!
Thanks to our team-building efforts over the last couple of years (big shout-out to Payal Sondhi Chaudhari and Ruchira Raj), we are a team of three full-time people now. Our two full time librarians manage the Spiti library, and given the limited resources that we operate with, they also play multiple roles – they clean the library space every morning, fetch parcels from the post office, make their own coffee and engage with the children (among other things). Because of their support, I’ve been able to broadly organize my work into two buckets: on-field and off-field. When I’m on the field (in Spiti), my work involves training the librarians, leading operations, liasioning with the stakeholders (government officials, locals, children), reading to the kids, taking photographs, and so on.
During the winter months, when I’m not in Spiti, I focus on planning, fundraising, procurement, reporting and managing our social media. I also do extensive research to procure books for our libraries, manage donor relations and invest in my own capacity building as a director, manager and an educator. Since we currently do not have a librarian for our Manali library, I also run the library part-time during the winter months.
There is still quite a bit on my plate, and it is often overwhelming, but thankfully I do have more help now. Other than our librarians, we’ve got other friends and supporters who help out in a voluntary capacity. I know it’s going to be a while before we are able to build our dream team, but we’re definitely off to a good start!
P.S. The photo is from a couple of years ago, when I conducted an art workshop for government school children in Spiti Valley.