Written by Pooja Sagar, LEC 2021
It all started when…
One morning, a colleague forwarded the ‘Bookworm’ Library Educator’s Certificate (LEC) course prospectus to our school’s library WhatsApp group. The prospectus was ‘magical’! It gave me such a profound sense of the kind of program that I could expect from Bookworm, that I was just enticed into writing to them immediately. I applied for the course and got selected.
Goa…..Aha!
I arrived at the retreat centre a day before the workshop. The centre was a warm, welcoming, little paradise tucked away in wilderness. As I entered my room, I was received by a pleasant surprise. A little goodie-bag with cashews and tamarind chocolates lay on the bedside table. Next to it was an envelope with my name on it, and inside was a lovely card with a little note about a cultural aspect of Goa. There was a sense of wonderment at the love and warmth that was infused in everything.
The library band-wagon
Later, through the week, the Bookworm team introduced us to wonderful activities and games that enriched our learning experiences. There were ice-breaker activities which helped us know the participants better and bond with them effortlessly!
There were heartfelt book talks by mentors and participants. And then there would be days when suddenly like a jolt out of the blue, a few characters from books would enter the room with a huge announcement and create a sense of bewilderment among us!! This was an absolutely brilliant way of recommending books for us to read.
The discussions from the compendium of readings were eye-openers to the perils faced by libraries in India and the challenges faced by communities (especially marginalised communities) with respect to reading.
The collaborative art project Nhoi , the twilight astha chal walks, the visit to Bookworm library , quiet reading times and a host of other beautiful activities influenced me profoundly!
My take-away(s)…..
The Bookworm LEC Contact experience has changed the way I look at books. Picture books have changed my perspective of the World. As a school librarian, I realised the need to address a wide range of challenges ranging from bullying to traditional stereotyping to socio-economic divides as well as other complex issues that prevail in the society. Like it is said, a school is a slice of what the future of a country looks like!
And at Bookworm I learnt that selecting picture books that address these challenges is vital, as libraries are not only about joie de vivre but also institutions in themselves- centres that can help the society look at its problems in a new light and start addressing them. Books speak to us and give us an insight into our own contribution to a given problem and how we can start altering lives through positive gestures.
During the course, I learnt that library is a social body. It requires the entire community to participate in its conception, growth, nurturing and survival. Earlier to LEC, I used to think that a librarian’s work is restricted to what we can achieve in school during the library hour with children. But now, my scope of work has stretched to newer horizons. Our library activities have extended to include all members of the family and have stretched beyond school time to include family reading time too.
Getting ‘families’ together, to be a part of library activities was a great take-away from the LEC contact! Our school hosted an online quiz and it was heartening to see participation from many families! What was more delightful was the participation from grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins and extended family members too. Little did I know that LEC would open up this dimension of library learning in me!
The games and activities that I was exposed to, at the LEC contact, have had tremendous impact too. Back at school, my library sessions have blossomed into the most vibrant of all sessions! Children are exuberant in the library and this in turn is affecting the way they carry themselves at home. We have received pleasing feedback from parents about the library program. Our school always believed in an open library and my belief in the same got further strengthened at LEC.
Before beginning the LEC course, I used to be of the opinion that library maintenance and upkeep is solely my job as a librarian. Now, children are a part of the process too. They help with mending books, reading blurbs, identifying the genres, and even organising the books in respective sections of the shelves.
We are in the process of planning a library outreach program. We are identifying government schools in the neighbourhood where we could take our library program to!
It has been only a month since I started the LEC course. If this is the kind of impact a library educator can make in just a matter of a month, one can only imagine the myriad possibilities (in the field of library education) with an extended collaboration with Bookworm and other Library Educators!