For the love of books

Imagine having a little pond in your school library, where you can look at colourful fish swim by as you read your favourite book. A spiral staircase leading up to a tower from where you can see almost the entire school. Quiet corners that let you sit alone and undisturbed, lost to the world as you sit immersed in your own world of stories…

 

Does it sound like an unbelievable fantasy? You might be pleasantly surprised to know that such a library truly exists, in a school called Centre for Learning, on the outskirts of Bangalore. I visited them recently, and had the opportunity to meet Usha Aunty, an inspiring lady who loves books and children, and introducing children to the wonderful world of books. She has introduced simple and beautiful ways to involve children in their own learning space. Firstly, there is no librarian acting like a monitor, giving you a million instructions. You can simply pick up any book you like, and make a note in the computerised system placed in the library, without waiting for an adult to do it for you. This openness extends to many of the library activities.

 

Children are encouraged to ‘adopt’ books and care for them. The library has a small section called the Book Hospital where torn and damaged books are kept. These are stuck together and bound properly. If you have adopted a particular book, you make a new cover for it, and write a short description at the back of the book. You also get to interview a few students and teachers who have read the book, so that you can compile their comments to attract new readers. Apart from this, you can make book marks, write book ads, paint posters and display lists of favourite books — whatever that makes reading exciting and fun for you.

 

If you are wondering ‘All of this sounds great, but this might never work in my school library’, spend some time thinking of ideas that your teachers or librarian might be open to. When they see that you are genuinely interested, they will put aside their doubts, and join in your enthusiasm.

 

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

 

1. Read newspapers to look for reviews of new books for children. These can be shared with the class, or put up in the library. This activity will prove quite useful when orders for books are being placed.

 

2. At home, and in your neighbourhood, look out for interesting books that are lying unread on dusty shelves. Ask if these can be donated to the library.

 

3. Offer to make attractive posters for the library.

 

4. Help to keep the library clean, and mend torn books.

 

5. Ask your teachers to talk about books they liked to read in their childhood. You might get to see a very different side to them. 

 

6. Organise sessions where you can read poems or short extracts from books. This will help you learn about your friends’ interests, and even discover books and writers you didn’t know about earlier.

NOTE: This article appeared in the Hyderabad edition of Young World (supplement with The Hindu) on Feb 9, 2010.

To know more about the CFL library, check http://library.cfl.in/

To see pictures of the library, check http://www.flickr.com/photos/cfllibrary/404710489/in/photostream/

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