This Maharashtra village library is helping kids crack exams and win scholarships

Key points

• “Education is not just about going to school," says Ashwini Laxman Shelke.
• In a small village in Maharashtra's Beed district, the former SBI Youth for India Fellow and founder of The Shahalakshya Charitable Trust noticed a reality familiar to many rural communities.
• Children were attending school, but many had no access to books at home, few quiet places to study, and limited academic guidance outside the classroom.
• To bridge that gap, Shelke started a small reading corner in 2017. What began as a modest effort to support village students has since grown into the Savitribai Phule Vachanaly Library.
• It is now a community learning space that now supports more than 130 children, with 70 to 80 students visiting daily to read, study, receive guidance, and explore opportunities that once seemed out of reach.