About Us

Alums Mentoring Program

Bookworm began in 2005 and the Trust was registered in 2014 with a vision to inspire and develop a love for reading as a way of life, nurturing humane engagement in everyone. 2025 marks 20 years of Bookworm’s work in the Library sector.

Bookworm Trust organizes its work through six programs-

ALUMS MENTORING PROGRAM 2025 - ‘26

Bookworm’s Professional Development program includes courses, workshops, mentoring, resource creation and dissemination, and support to library professionals who engage in library work focused on children.

Mentoring programs offered by Bookworm provide opportunities to experience the possibilities of library spaces, and to develop one’s own vision and practice for libraries. In our experience, training in the absence of hand holding, direction, mentoring, nurturing and nudging do not appear to sustain the depth and intention with which they often begin. Groups/ individuals who have been held by Bookworm over a longer period of time or who have made the effort to remain in constant touch with Bookworm, have shown a deeper and more sustainable engagement in library work. This makes us proud and happy that nurturing library work affords more children, nurturing library practices.

Against this backdrop , Bookworm is honored to offer a Mentoring Program across Bookworm’s family of alumni.

The Mentoring with Bookworm program will offer a close hand holding support for a period of 6 months, through reading and planning together, opportunities to cross-share reflections and practice ideas and the opportunity to learn with a team of library professionals who have been working in the field for many years. Through the mentoring program, participants will receive feedback and guidance on their day to day library practice and operations. The mentoring program will be offered on the basis of three library space/types : School library, Community library and Independent library. Mentoring Support will be based on the gradual release of responsibility framework (Pearson & Gallagher, 1983), where we begin with close hand holding, gradually shifting to joint responsibility and move towards independent practice and application by the participant.

How does the Mentoring approach help?

It helps reiterate and reinforce vibrant library practices
Discussions based on dilemmas from the field help put things in perspective
Mentors listen to and engage with practical challenges and collaborate with mentees to move towards solutions
Systematic review and planning helps address critical aspects of library work based on the library elements framework

Who is eligible to apply for the Library Mentorship Program?

Any alumni* belonging to Bookworm’s long term courses and workshops would be eligible to apply for the mentorship program. Bookworm’s long term courses include:

Library Educators Certificate course
Library Mentoring Support program
Introduction to Libraries workshop
Libraries: Purpose and Practice workshop
Takshika Education Society: Library Support

*Up to two individuals from an organisation can apply. At least one should be an alumnus.

What will the mentorship include?

The mentorship program will be offered in three tracks to enable focused work based on specific library types. The three tracks include – community libraries, school libraries and independent libraries.

For Bookworm, each of these library spaces/types are understood as:

SCHOOL
A library that caters to children and teachers who are enrolled within the institution of a school. The school library is usually located within the school premises.

COMMUNITY
A library that caters to a specific underserved community.

INDEPENDENT
If the library is not specifically serving either of the above, it is an independent library

The Mentoring program includes:

Fortnightly virtual synchronous sessions (June – August), These will move to Monthly virtual synchronous sessions (September – November) The syllabus for these sessions will be anchored in theoretical and practical based library ideas, but will begin with where participating mentees are in their practice currently.
The opportunity to participate in a physical Bookworm library workshop varying between 4-6 days (Accommodation and travel would have to be self supported) is being planned.
The opportunity to participate in monthly online library professional development sessions on varied topics around library work
Access to Bookworm Library resources (lesson plans, book lists etc) on a continuous basis
Access to Bookworms Long Distance Library membership to receive curated sets of books on a regular basis
Participation in monthly reading circles to discuss texts critically
Strengthen solidarity by becoming a part of a larger community of Library Professionals

What are the expectations of participants?

Attend all online mentoring sessions from June to November (9 sessions)
Actively participate in the sessions
A commitment to do all the pre-session and post-session work (including conducting library sessions with children)
Read 100 books from a curated list selected by Bookworm during the mentoring tenure.
Voluntary participation in reading circles.
Voluntary participation in physical, residential workshops.

What is the fee for the Mentorship Program?

The total fee is Rs. 35,000/- which includes all sessions that will be held and resources that will be shared. Scholarships are available based on the economic needs of participants / organisation, and for participants from marginalised and historically oppressed backgrounds. Fees once paid will not be refundable.

If more than one participant from an organisation would like to apply, the fee is Rs. 50,000/- for a maximum of two participants

How can one apply for the program?

Please fill in the application form here https://forms.gle/PmLTyuuLV3BZBDrWA and submit it by 15th May, 2025.. A personal interview will be scheduled at a mutually convenient time to understand the applicant’s needs and share our expectations clearly.

Please note important dates below:

Applications open – 29th April 2025

Applications close – 15th May 2025

Selections finalised – 25th May 2025

Fee Payment (In one Installment) – 25th May 2025

Mentoring Program – June – November 2025

Testimonials

“हमारी बूकवोर्म के साथ अप्रैल 2024 से मेंटरिंग मीटिंग शुरू हुई | जिसमे मुझे बहुत कुछ सिखने को मिला और अभी भी मैं सिख रही हूँ | जिससे मेरे और मेरी लाइब्रेरी में काफी बदलाव आये | जैसे कि मैं खुद से किताबों से योजना प्लान करने लगी मेंटरिंग के दौरान मिले प्लान को भी स्कूल, समुदाय और लाइब्रेरी में करने लगी कभी-कभी ऐसा होता था कि योजना अच्छी रहती थी, लेकिन सत्र अच्छे से हो नहीं पाता था वहीँ कभी-कभी बहुत अच्छा सत्र आयोजित हो जाता था | फिर धीरे-धीरे अच्छा होने लगा | शायद अच्छा होने का ये भी वजह था कि जो भी प्लान मिलता उस कार्य-योजना के अनुसार ही अपने सत्र का आयोजन करती थी | और जैसा भी सत्र जाता उसपर हमलोग सोचते, विचार करते क्या अच्छा गया, क्या चुनौतियां आई और उसे ठीक करने की जरुरत है इस पर चर्चा करते |”

Having access to continuous mentoring and professional development opportunities makes a big difference to my work as I run an independent library and do most of the work by myself. These interactions and meetings provide a platform to ask questions, share ideas and learn new skills and tools and to meet other educators. For example, participating in a recent workshop on creating library displays offered by Bookworm was both fascinating and helpful, it helps keep the feeling of being a part of a larger community alive.

‘Being part of a mentoring program enabled us to imagine possibilities of what a Library can be like beyond only literacy and language. We were able to bring in transformative shifts in our Library -- we made it more accessible to children, strengthened our collection and facilitated diverse activities -- together with the children. And all of this has strengthened childrens' relationships with books, reading and the library.’

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