Making room to bring more books to more children

As part of our ongoing work to scale Room to Read’s library model and bring more books to more children, Room to Read Bangladesh has partnered with the Directorate of Primary Education to establish 59 classroom libraries across 10 government primary schools in Dhaka and Rangpur.

These libraries incorporate all the essential elements of the Room to Read library model — a child-friendly space filled with diverse, high-quality books in local languages, the implementation of library reading activities like read alouds, paired reading and independent reading, and ongoing teacher trainings — all adapted for individual classrooms.  

A pilot program, these classroom libraries will help Room to Read government partners in Bangladesh test the feasibility of Room to Read’s classroom-based library model. In time, the pilot will inform how the Bangladesh government can incorporate libraries in classrooms nationally. 

Below, explore photos from the opening ceremonies of several primary school classroom libraries in Dhaka:

Top left: Shah Rezwan, director general of directorate of primary education in Bangladesh, speaks at the inauguration of a primary school classroom library in Rangpur.

Shah is accompanied by Rakhi Sarkar (third from left), country director, Room to Read Bangladesh, Farhadul Alam (far right), deputy director, directorate of primary education in Bangladesh and local primary education officials.

Top right: Shah Rezwan and Rakhi Sarkar unveiling a new primary school classroom library in Dhaka.

Top center: Badruzzaman Khan, program operations director, Room to Read Bangladesh, speaking at the opening of a new primary school classroom library in Khulna, Bangladesh. Badruzzaman Khan is accompanied on stage by Rakhi Sarkar (third from left), country director, Room to Read Bangladesh, Dilip Kumar Banik, director general, directorate of primary education in Bangladesh, along with several other local government representatives.

Bottom left: Shah Rezwan, director general of directorate of primary education in Bangladesh, checks out a book to a student from a new primary school classroom library during the library opening ceremony.

Bottom right: Shah Rezwan explores a storybook with a student during a classroom library opening ceremony in Dhaka. 

With your support, Room to Read is making room for children to read, learn and grow — in Bangladesh and around the world.