The Vibrant School Library: Where Dreams come True

Abstract

The school library is the birthplace of dreams and fantasies. The stories heard from the grandmother, mother, aunts and uncles get a reality when the children touch and smell the books, and feel the colour of the pictures. The pulse of the students is probably felt in the best way in a school library. In this paper, the real situations in the libraries of the Navodaya Vidyalaya India (boarding schools supported and subsidized by the central Government) have been discussed. These networks of school libraries are scattered all over India, with a special purpose to reach the unreached. These libraries are always buzzing with a lot of activities – be it book exhibitions, library quiz, discussion forum etc. From the simple of the simplest of exploring a journey through a book, to searching information through e-granthalaya (the software used), the students are beaming with ocean of information. The book week programme, story hour period, library quiz are only some of the activities mentioned. The paper will also discuss the dynamic effort of the librarians of these schools in trying to cater to fulfill the dreams of the students. The special effort of the librarians in training the students to love books is stated. Taking care of books by making special book covers, environment friendly book supports and book stands etc. are also explained in this paper. Last, but not the least, the paper brings into forefront the ways to harness a cordial relation between the librarian and the students.