This enterprising duo brings the bookstore to the school Nida Sayed| TNN | Sep 24, 2017, 13:26 IST Francisca Ribeiro, a Class VI student, huddled around the swarm of students that were skimming through a set of books at a book exhibition at her school. Her eyes finally settled on the collection of short stories that she had been eyeing for days, but couldn't quite get her hands on. Excitedly picking it up, she murmured to her friends, "I've already read two of the stories from the book from the school library copy. Now that I have one for myself, I can read it at leisure." While most bibliophiles encourage reading English books, the co-founders of Abhinav Creationz <http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Creationz> are busy captivating the imagination of children in Goa with contemporary Konkani <http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Konkani> literature. Started in February 2016, Abhinav Creationz has been instrumental in taking libraries to children. They visit one school a week, holding day-long book exhibitions for students. "The incidence of children going to bookstalls has decreased. So it's time we went to them and motivated them so that they come to us later," co-founders Anwesha Singbal <http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Singbal> and Amol Kamat explained. Former colleagues at a local newspaper, Singbal and Kamat launched the venture after moving on from their jobs. They go from school-to-school displaying various titles in English and regional languages for students and libraries to purchase. "Our initiative is business mixed with social work," Singbal said. The duo got in touch with publishers across Goa like Sanjana Publications in Curchorem, Goa 1665 in Saligao <http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Saligao>, and Konkani Bhasha Mandal in Patto and Margao. They even contacted Delhi-based Pratham books, and Pune-based Jyotsna Publications and Mehta Publications <http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Mehta-Publications>.
The venture has made book more accessible to children. While they initially began with Konkani literature, the duo later moved on to other regional languages like Marathi and Hindi and now even have English books on sale. "We tried placing advertisements to market our books, but there was hardly any response. So, we came up with an idea that helps inculcate the reading habit in children while simultaneously pushing book sales," Singbal said. Initially they would visit schools with 50-odd titles in tow. Now, they have over 200 titles to share. Together, Singbal and Kamat have visited nearly 150 schools in over a year. "The business quantum here is that readers get to choose books at their doorstep. And publishers get another channel to push books," said Kamat. The duo maintained that teachers have a massive role to play in nurturing the reading habit. "The problem lies with school teachers. They want their money's worth and therefore go for books with more text. However, children prefer books with less text and more pictures. Teachers fail to understand that the reading habit develops at a young age if children start with grasping text through pictures. After Class VII, students automatically opt to purchase books on general knowledge, science and theory oressays," Singbal said. As one of their exhibitions came to a close, Class IV student, Vienna Fernandes pressed an anthology of Konkani folktales to her chest and said, "Konkani stories are more interesting than those of other language. I have learnt some new Konkani words, too." http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/this-enterprisin g-duo-brings-the-bookstore-to-the-school/articleshow/60814874.cms