A children’s library in Hyderabad where stories shape values

Saturday mornings are astatine their busiest astatine Kathatitam successful Hyderabad. Tucked distant connected the 5th level of a analyzable successful a quiescent Gachibowli lane, the library-cum-cultural space opened successful August, 2025, with its village-themed décor and calming ambience, transports young readers into different world. When we visit, the children intermission their speechmaking to invited Lakshmi, a farmer, for a storytelling session.

“Dear friends, I americium obscurity adjacent to being qualified to play a farmer. It is simply a profoundly respected profession, and I americium honoured to measurement into this role,” says storyteller and laminitis Shilpa Kiranveer, arsenic she slips into quality to explicate the value of Sankranti for farmers. For the adjacent 15 minutes, she becomes Lakshmi — a pistillate who works the land, contributes to nutrient production, manages her household and cares for her children. Through expressive narration, Shilpa brings the lives of women farmers vividly live for her young audience.

Shilpa began her nonrecreational beingness arsenic a bundle technologist earlier motherhood drew her towards education. She went connected to thatch astatine Vidyaranya High School for 7 years, wherever she became intimately progressive with room work. “I completed my room educators’ people astatine the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), which genuinely opened my bosom and caput to what speechmaking tin bash for children, particularly astatine a young age,” she says.

Medium to convey messages

Collecting books for her 4 boys was not conscionable astir gathering a reading habit, it became a mode to pass values. Whenever she faced a parenting roadblock and wanted to marque a constituent without lecturing, Shilpa turned to stories. “Many situations originate that families are not equipped to discuss. Stories assistance simplify them, and children understand. It besides eases hostility astatine home,” she says.

She soon noticed her children absorbing values done books. While her storytelling sessions successful schools were popular, Shilpa felt they fell short. “Children enjoyed them, but they weren’t reading,” she recalls. This prompted her to rework the format into a storytelling-led worth acquisition programme. One-on-one sessions helped her recognize a child’s academic, societal and affectional world, portion besides drafting input from parents.

“Reading aloud proved to beryllium key,” she adds. “Anyone tin read, but comprehension doesn’t travel naturally. That wont needs to beryllium built.”

Traditional decor

These experiences led Shilpa to motorboat Kathatitam, a children’s library-cum-cultural space. Derived from Telugu and Sanskrit, Kathatitam means ‘going beyond stories’. Designed similar a accepted village, with muggulu (or kolam) adorning the walls, the abstraction is meant to calm children, nurture a speechmaking wont and spark curiosity crossed genres, authors and forms of literature. “I spot them turn much assured successful expressing their thoughts, listening respectfully and being unfastened to antithetic opinions. They besides make captious thinking,” she says.

As a taste space, Kathatitam collaborates with artists and practitioners from the worlds of art, euphony and civilization who stock its values, including sustainability and a zero-plastic ethos. Alongside productions specified arsenic Popsicle Productions’ On Shared Childhood, the abstraction besides hosted open-mic event for adults by Unruled Mic. Collaborations, however, are cautiously curated. “We privation the abstraction to resonate with our values. We ever ask, ‘What worth are we offering the assemblage oregon reader?’ If determination is none, determination is nary learning,” Shilpa explains.

At a clip of increasing interest implicit the interaction of societal media connected children and teenagers, Kathatitam has taken a wide stand. Its societal media posts ne'er diagnostic children.

“It’s a conscious decision,” says Shilpa. “The archetypal regularisation erstwhile moving with children is to safeguard their physical, affectional and intelligence well-being. We don’t judge societal media is harmless for them. And I find it uncomfortable erstwhile idiosyncratic points a telephone astatine maine portion I’m reading.”

Kathatitam’s events are listed connected Instagram: @kathatitam.