Sarwesh Pareek
A library is an important source of knowledge to young minds in schools. It can aid in the development of the important habit of reading among the students. It has an organized set of resources, which include human services and media (text, video, and hypermedia). It has physical components such as space, equipment, and storage media, intellectual components such as collection policies that determine what materials will be included and organizational schemes that determine how the collection is accessed, and people who manage the physical and intellectual components and interact with users.
To inculcate the habit of reading among the students, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Vidyashram Pratapnagar, Jaipur decided to set aside one week in a year to celebrate the library. We just concluded our 12th Library Week Celebration. Here’s what we did.
Writing session
In the Library Week Celebrations, students of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Vidyashram Pratapnagar had a session called ‘Expressions…’ to learn how to write. The session was for the students, of the students, and by the students.
Kanishka Chholak, a student of class XII and author of the book The Imprisoned Man encouraged the students to develop the art of writing. In an interesting session she articulated ways to nurture their writing skills to convey their message effectively. It also included a fruitful interaction with the audience. The session was very informative and praiseworthy.
Blind date with a book
Blind Date with a Book was organized for classes VIII and IX in which 35 students participated. In this activity, students had to choose a wrapped book based on the hint given about the book on the wrapper. Students also wrote book reviews in the given format after reading the book. Parents appreciated the efforts of the school for organizing such innovative activities to develop reading in students.
Bookmark designing activity
Bookmark designing competition was organized for classes V and VI. Students enthusiastically designed bookmarks on the topic “75 Years of Indian Independence: A Success”. All the bookmarks were fascinating and the efforts were beyond one’s imagination. The students highlighted India’s success through 75 years. This competition encouraged and motivated the students to showcase their intellect and creativity.
Book jacket designing competition
Book jacket designing competition was organized for the students of classes VII and VIII. About 25 students participated and prepared beautiful covers for different books using creative designs and colours. The theme for the competition was “My favorite Book or Fairy Tales”.
Tell a tale
“Tell A Tale” competition was conducted for classes III and IV. The theme for the same was moral stories.
Story pyramid activity
The story pyramid activity was conducted for classes I and II. The activity aimed to encourage little ones to read their favourite story books and later say and write the title, setting, characters, beginning, middle and end of the story. Students also drew their favourite character from the story they read.
Book fair
After a weeklong celebration, the Library Week concluded with a book fair, where students and parents could buy books, magazines, novels, etc. of their choice. Everyone enjoyed browsing through the collection ranging from fantasy, mystery, horror to vocabulary building, grammar, art and craft. Parents and children gave positive feedback and the fair received an overwhelming response.
The author is the library educator at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Vidyashram, Pratap Nagar, Jaipur. He can be reached at sarweshpareek@yahoo.com.