海角大神

It鈥檚 6 in the evening, and Sadiya Riyaz Shaikh is carefully painting the leaves of a tree on the powder-blue walls of a small room. Young visitors huddle around the 18-year-old, giggling shyly while advising her on colors. She writes the English alphabet and the numbers 1 through 10 along the branches. Outside, dusk has settled. In the glow of a tube light, a few older children quietly read their books in a corner.聽

This is no ordinary place. Here in Deora, a small village in Bihar, a state in eastern India, it鈥檚 the only library. Standing at the edge of a road, the unassuming Maulana Azad Library can easily be overlooked, unless you stop to read the bright yellow board bearing its name. Just a few months ago, it was a dilapidated guesthouse. But when Ms. Shaikh came back to her ancestral village to wait out the pandemic, she had an idea.

Child marriage is common in聽Deora, she noticed, and attending school is not. The village of 3,500 has a male literacy rate of 45%, while the female rate is 38%, according to the . 鈥淢any families often withdraw their children from schools because they cannot afford to buy books for聽the prescribed syllabus or even uniforms,鈥� Ms. Shaikh says over the phone. Some families don鈥檛 wish to educate daughters, she adds, and other children are forced to work in the fields with parents and siblings.

She herself was born here, but moved to Mumbai when she was 3 years old. Amid the pandemic, her father鈥檚 small manufacturing business had to temporarily shut shop, and the family was forced to return. Since September, she鈥檚 transformed the small space to provide schoolchildren with access to books they otherwise could not afford, and a supportive place to study.

It鈥檚 one of many times Ms. Shaikh has tried to use her own opportunities to open doors for others. A polyglot in Hindi, Urdu, and English, she often speaks at inter-college events on the right to education, women鈥檚 empowerment, and unemployment. For as long as she can remember, she鈥檚 loved standing in the midst of a spellbound audience. Last year, amid nationwide demonstrations against a contentious citizenship law accused of discriminating against Muslims, she took to the stage to speak out against rising intolerance and the police crackdown on student protesters.聽

Getting to work

This July, back in Deora, Ms. Shaikh sat down with her family elders and proposed the idea of the library. Many shook their heads in disagreement聽鈥� this wasn鈥檛 how a young girl should spend her time.聽

After many discussions, she finally convinced them, and gained access to her relatives鈥� guesthouse, renovating it with almost 5,000 rupees ($67) she鈥檇 won in public-speaking awards over the last two years. She took the help of her uncle, Akbar Siddique, and cousin, Nawaz Rahman, and got to work. Walls were repainted, the bamboo roof was repaired and fastened to a crimson tarpaulin, lights and a bookshelf were installed, and the room was filled with plastic chairs and a table. Vivid charts聽tacked to the walls 鈥� from anatomy and transportation, to India鈥檚 鈥渇reedom fighters鈥� for聽independence 鈥撀爀nlivened the space.

The 7-by-12-foot room was ready for big dreams.聽

Named after India鈥檚 first education minister, the Maulana Azad Library houses hundreds of new and secondhand school books ( and fundraising). Coloring and story books are provided to younger children. Ms. Shaikh also managed to聽secure subscriptions to Hindi and Urdu newspapers. Not all the books are in great shape 鈥� some are dog-eared or slightly frayed. But for some readers, they are crown jewels.聽

Local schools often lack support, with sparse furniture and lighting. Deora鈥檚 students sit on thin floor mats. Those who really want to learn, like 14-year-old Ayaz Rahman, have to find alternatives. After-school tutoring can cost 500 rupees a month ($7), a huge investment for families like Ayaz鈥檚.聽鈥淚 don鈥檛 have money for coaching classes,鈥� he says bluntly. Ayaz lost his father a few years ago, which put his family under financial stress. His older brother, who works as a foreman, is the only earning member in the family of nine.

The library serves as a refuge that whisks him away every day, where he spends at least an hour studying or reading the Hindi newspaper. Using 鈥渂ook guides鈥� that support his textbooks, 鈥淚鈥檝e been able to cover my entire ninth grade syllabus,鈥� he says. 鈥淲ithout the library, I wouldn鈥檛 have been able to manage it.鈥� A tutor is paid to look after the space, and assist children with texts, alongside two young volunteers.聽

Courtesy of Nawaz Rahman and Akbar Siddique

Sadiya Riyaz Shaikh reads in the Maulana Azad Library, which she founded and decorated. She used her own prize money from speaking competitions, as well as donations, to collect hundreds of books for the library.

鈥淟et them keep talking鈥�

Before the library opened, a few neighbors turned naysayers. Some, with great delight, prophesied that things would soon go south. But 鈥渋f I continue to listen to others, I鈥檒l never be able to achieve anything,鈥� says Ms. Shaikh, her oval face framed by a gray hijab. 鈥淭he only way I can prove anything to anyone is to let them keep talking, while I keep working.鈥�

Her strongest ally is her father, Reyaz Ahmed Shaikh. Mr. Ahmed Shaikh recalls how聽certain villagers began looking at him 鈥渄ifferently鈥� once his daughter began undermining village聽expectations. 鈥淚 think they鈥檇 prefer if my girl stayed at home and did not venture out in public,鈥� he says. 鈥淥ur culture dictates that girls should remain in purdah and they needn鈥檛 attend schools or colleges. But I see things differently. I know that girls are capable of doing great things just like boys, as long as they are respectful towards their parents and others. So, I don鈥檛 care about what the villagers think of me. I won鈥檛 let that stop my daughter.鈥�

Ms. Shaikh is acutely aware of her privilege. The goal is to use it to rally one youngster after another, in hopes that they can alter the village鈥檚 trajectory. 鈥淭hese children have an intelligent mind. I鈥檝e seen that,鈥� she says.

Recently, she鈥檚 returned to Mumbai, but gets daily updates on the library from her cousin. In her eyes, the project is just beginning. Ms. Shaikh is working to organize scholarships for Deora鈥檚 children, and hopes to gather a group of volunteers to start libraries in neighboring villages as well.

Deora聽鈥� like much of India聽鈥� has been a ground for Hindu-Muslim discord.聽For now, only Muslim children are visiting the library, Ms. Shaikh says, but that鈥檚 something she wants to change. 鈥淚t may be that non-Muslims fear they are not welcome in our library, but we want to eradicate such fears,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ooks do not discriminate against who is reading them, so everyone is entitled to them.鈥�

鈥淚 think the gap between Muslims and non-Muslims can only be repaired through education,鈥� she adds. 鈥淚f we want to change society, we have to take everyone with us in our progress.鈥�

To continue the growth of the library project, Ms. Shaikh has .