Geetanjali Mehra
How can a school library be more welcoming of its participants/readers? Is there a way that a school librarian/teacher can be more effective in her engagements with children? For instance, teaching-learning tools can make a big difference in library sessions. Using story-telling methods that resonate with children can bring about a deeper understanding of the books. A teacher-librarian reflects on her journey.
Category: Off the Library Shelves
Literature in the language classroom
Sreya Rakshit
A literary text can open up whole new vistas for children in a language classroom because it gives them a chance to engage with ideas of inequality, emotions, gender, justice, integrity or even friendship without any sense of discomfort. In this article, the author explains how one such literary text, Dear Mrs. Naidu, helped her students reflect on various dense subjects.
Unsettling the library educator
Sujata Noronha
A project idea by a course participant led this library educator on a path of self-realization, acknowledgement and acceptance of the fact that by being only a passive observer and not engaging with social problems like casteism, she is actually a part of the problem and that she has to actively work toward finding solutions to such problems.
Libraries as windows and mirrors
Indu Nair
Extending relational scholar Emily Style’s concept of the school curriculum as windows and mirrors to the library, this librarian shares her experience and challenges of putting together a book collection that she hopes will serve as mirrors to enable readers to see themselves and their reality and as windows to help them see the same of others.
Why I love going back…to the LEC community
Neeraj Naidu
What makes a person pick up one book from many? Browsing for a book is an act that bridges the space between the book and the reader. And what about book displays? Do they connect with the reader or a browser who is looking for something unique? Read through this article by a library educator who loves going back to the community.
Library: A place to begin and a place to be
Proma Basu Roy
The author recounts her journey of starting a small book corner in a school which did not have a library at all to establishing a full scale library for the entire school and a library period for each class once a week which has been integrated into the school timetable. The wheel had come full circle. Read on to know how this magical experience came about.
Bringing picture books to life
G Veena Rao
Of all the different kinds of books there are, picture books are the most underrated. Picture books can impart a wealth of knowledge and can be read by anybody at any age. As the author worked with first generation learners with picture books, their high utility value became even more clear to her. Her desire now is to start a picture book library and make these books easily accessible.
The unfinished bridge between the library and school
Judith Thomas
Here is an interesting account of how an attempt was made to reopen the school library, despite the pandemic, in order to give children an opportunity to move out of their homes, meet their peers, make small but important choices for themselves – giving them a sense of autonomy and freedom. The idea was to reconnect with students, building a bridge between the school and the online learning space.
Corona days in a neighbourhood library
Drishti Tyagi
This is the story of how a home based neighbourhood library survived the corona days and the lessons that the library educator learnt.
The power of read-aloud
Yasin Khan
Reading aloud is an art that people working with children need to learn and learn well. Not only does it help develop the reading habit in children, but it also facilitates the overall wellbeing of the child even while improving their cognitive skills.