In The Librarian’s Book of Lists (Chicago: ALA, 2010), George Eberhart offers this definition:
“A library is a collection of resources in a variety of formats that is (1) organized by information professionals or other experts who (2) provide convenient physical, digital, bibliographic, or intellectual access and (3) offer targeted services and programs (4) with the mission of educating, informing, or entertaining a variety of audiences (5) and the goal of stimulating individual learning and advancing society as a whole.” (p.1)
But if someone asks me what is a library then I would say it is a place of joy, an open safe space to browse, explore, choose a book of one’s choice from a range of books and read and dream to one’s heart’s content – a more layman approach….
It has been some years now working with Bookworm and I feel the urgency more so now about the need for books to reach as many children as possible. A few days back, I had the opportunity of visiting a school with Sujata and Melcom. We were ushered into a spacious sunny room with tables, benches, a few cupboards and other office paraphernalia. I was surprised to see that the area with the cupboards with books was the library space. One may say what is wrong in having a small space, it at least has books. But I happened to see the books and my heart skipped a beat.
Some of the books were not in good condition, there were many encyclopedias and reference study books along with some novels for adults and religious books. I kept searching for books that I felt would be enjoyed heartily by the children, but I could not find much. My mind kept returning to our books at Bookworm and I kept imagining the excitement that these children would have experienced with those books. This visit raised many questions in my mind about what we think of as a library. Should the library not have books keeping the children in mind? Should there not be books that children can read, understand and enjoy?
As part of the Libraries in School (LiS) program, this year, we are helping setup three libraries in schools that we conduct the LiS sessions in. The plan is to support the librarian/teachers this year in library practices and hand over the libraries to the schools from next year. The setups have been a great challenge to the team. We have realised that it is not as easy as just putting up some shelves with books along with a few posters. It is much more than that. There is a lot of thinking that needs to go into it.
We need to think about the children, the placement of the shelves and books, the curation of the books for the children, the teachers and a lot more things. There is also a need to keep in mind that a library space needs to be vibrant to keep the excitement alive. One of the ways we have attempted to do this is through a display for the teachers and an interactive poetree for the children to share their thoughts. We are also aware that these displays have to be refreshed regularly along with the collection to keep the engagement constant.
It is a challenge to setup a library however small it may be. The essence of the library lies in its collection and users. And as library educators, we need to be aware of this first and take it ahead because libraries matter – they matter a lot as they help in thinking, creating, learning, sharing and growing.
