“Over time, everything changes”. It is a saying that I have often heard. I studied to be in the media sector and when applying for a job I held the highest hope of getting a job at Bookworm. While surfing through the internet, I had found out that there was a possibility of working with children here, which I liked. At Bookworm, the journey started as an Assistant for the Libraries in Schools (LiS) program. Over time, I was part of other Bookworm programs like the Mobile Outreach Program.
For some people, working in a Library appears to be a job of dealing only with books and its members. A few friends, whom I occasionally met and shared about where I work, seemed to feel that way too. In the beginning, I used to wonder how I could tell them that Bookworm’s work is much broader than what they think it is.
As an assistant, I had the opportunity to learn from my lead Resource Persons. Different Resource Persons had different ways of working and I had the time to reflect on it. I adopted the best practices to move ahead with. The working space also worked its magic over me. I had fallen in love with it when I first stepped into the library. The colorful paintings and hanging craft was out of this world. The books looked good but reading did not come naturally to me. I remember the first book that I read had not more than 10 pages. I thought this was a poster at first that popped out, with a picture of a girl with yellow hair on its cover page. It was titled ‘Sleepyhead Tina’. Being amazed that it is a book, I read it, as we had to act out a character from a book for a fashion show for our ‘Night in the Library’ program.
It was the first event I was participating in and that was the time I saw how each one working at Bookworm were interesting characters in their own way. The idea of having a night in the library itself sounded fascinating to me. After being part of it, I became more comfortable. I started opening up and sharing my learning. My colleagues helped me whenever I needed help and I myself started looking at Sujata as a mentor for me. From her, I learnt many things and till date, she is the one who seeds many productive things that I do professionally or personally.
While being here one of the major changes at work has been the change of our working premises. I was happy about it and at the same time concerned that the magic I felt on the first day when I had entered the previous working space, would not be present here. In a planning meeting, I shared my concern and this was something that everyone was concerned about too. This gave me hope and we worked to see that we sustained the magic in this new place too. The time we spent on this after our regular working hours made us all strong and it felt like a family.
Today in this new place, I find myself happy, singing and dancing, able to work on different interesting projects. It has somehow made me more energetic and a better human being. I hope to become a better reader too. Having to talk in front of about 50 children, at a time in a classroom, I have gained confidence. The continuous push at work has made me better in dealing with adults too. I see a great shift in my reading, writing and speaking. Working with children I have become more curious and a happy person. I am happy that I choose to work here.