Skip to main content

Library Day

                               
Shibumi has been exploring the possibility to look a fresh at the functioning of the library. We have no dedicated librarian and to keep the the library alive is now the collective responsibility of all the teachers, students and some parents who have plunged in.
What is the intent of the library?
It is a demand for awareness:  Of the collection. Of the various aspects of use; of the joys of reading; Of the nature of the library; Of the care inherent in its smooth running; Of the necessity of individual and collective responsibility, ownership, active involvement and accountability. 
We are coming to understand and enter into this intent, and things are happening without tremendous effort or confusion.
One of the ideas to keep the library alive was to have a dedicated day to bring attention to the library and celebrate it. Once in two months perhaps. When we brain stormed about all the activities we would like to do on such a day, the ideas were many.
We recently had our first library day. Four students (Sidh,Asba, Varun and Yash) took interest in organising the day and it would not have happened without them.
We started the day with storytelling for the different groups of students.
The entire school then met up to listen to book talks by a parent, teacher and student. This was wonderful, and the books were borrowed as soon as the book talk ended!
We then played the ‘book buddy’ game. Where each of us at school suggested a book to our buddy (chosen by picking a chit). So each one of us ended up borrowing a book on library day!

Following this, the entire school was split into three stations.
-         Book Repair Station

-         Book review station

-         Posters station- to encourage the love for reading.

This turned out to be great fun and lots of informal talking about books happened, sharing stories, books, and even reading while at the stations.
We ended the day by filling in a ‘library questionnaire’ that the library committee (consisting of students, parents and teachers) put together.

All in all, it was a warm start to something we want to see happen more through the year.






Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Mask-making at School

The theatre workshop planned for Kiri on Tuesday could not happen because Saraswati, who was going to conduct it was ill. So we planned a half-day mask-making workshop using collected junk and natural material, to be followed by a film screening for the children. Angie and I were going to conduct the activities for the day. The mask making activity was something I had done in college and enjoyed tremendously, so I was very excited to do it with the kids, but of course there was no knowing how it would actually go! I started the day by showing the group photos of several different kinds of masks from different parts of the world and some junk art, just to get some juices flowing in the kids’ minds. They were quite enthralled and fascinated, and in hindsight it did feel like a useful presentation to have made. We then went out for a walk around school armed with plastic bags to collect interesting things from the roadside. Some of the children had chosen to pair up for the activity, ot

Ladki pe ghoda

Mahiti (Age 8) has been facinated with horses. Wanting to draw horses, paint them, stitch them. Last year for our Poetry mela she chose a poem about how to love a horse  to illustrate and share with others. The other day , she was swinging on the tyre swing and walked up to me with a smile on her face. When she was sure I  was listening to her she shared ....  'I have an idea! I want to make a horse I can ride. See , I will explain.... --looks around... finds a cardboard box.... gets into it...-- so, I want the horse around me , so I can ride it. and we can use some boxes for the neck and head.' Our learning space for the young children is consciously stocked with a variety open-ended material. For the children to easily access, use, play and learn with. Cardboard boxes are a open-ended resource material that lends itself to versatile unstructured play/learning beautifully. It takes the children on an adventure and helps them explore the imaginary places in their

Glimpses of Shibumi

Some years ago  mature students  from Brockwood Park School had visited Shibumi and spent a lot of time engaging with the school, interacting with the students and the teachers. In their exploration of education and desire to share their insights, three young students have put together their glimpses of Shibumi. A glimpse of day at Shibumi An interview with Kabir (C0-founder) Academics - At Shibumi Conversations with Tanushree    (C0-founder)