Class library is a wonderful way of ushering children into reading and writing. Let’s examine some ideas that shall make our class library engaging for learners.
- Variety of literature: A class library needs to be equipped with a variety of children’s literature, short stories, poems and reading material. Variety of children’s literature can include wordless picture books, fantasy stories, humorous stories, mysteries, tall tales, biographies, experiential stories, folk tales etc. Other reading material can range from catalogues, brochures, pamphlets , magazines, newspapers etc.
- Children’s work: Children’s projects, diaries, work , journals, self made books ought to find place in a class library. These material serve as excellent resources and personalize learning. Children can be encouraged to share the books they read at home and place it in the library for others to read. This inculcates a value of sharing in children and enriches libraries.
- Choosing material: Whose choice should prevail while selecting material for the class library? Both teacher and the student. It is worthwhile to visit resource room or the main library with children and allow them to select material for reading. You can also place a few books which you feel relates to the theme done in the class.
- Language: Emphasis of the class library should not be only English. The purpose is exposure to language, helping children become proficient readers and writers and learn language/s. Thus it must have stuff available in the regional language. Children draw parallels between languages and thus cross language exchange needs to be encouraged .
- Set classroom routines: It is important to allocate time for reading. Give at least 15-2o minutes of reading daily in the morning. Introduce this as a practice, it is important for you to read during that time to set an example and not engage with classroom chores.
- Issuing books: Books from the class library should be issued to inculcate reading habit in children. Children can select books on their own at times and home works can be carved around these books, if needed. Children should know both reading for pleasure and also reading for a purpose/ task.
- Sharing routines: It is also important to introduce sharing time where children share their reading experiences. This can be a whole class activity and can later be followed up in small groups. This gives children real stuff and audience to share.
- Response to literature: You can also engage learners in responding to what they read. This can be oral in the begining and can shape into written reviews later. However children need to engage with text again and again and you need to support their thoughts. The idea is their opinion about the read material and view point needs to be respected.
- Energizing libraries: With due time you shall also witness that level of engagement with libraries trip and this is a strong indication towards changing the stuff in the library. Make it a habit to replace books and stuff in the class library fortnightly.
- Drawing attention: At times you need to draw attention to the library by talking about a book you read, placing your comments in the reading log, planning your lessons and activities around the books.
- Nature of activities: You may ask children to read and narrate a story, make picture books using the characters of a story but altering the plot, frame riddles about the characters they studied and play a quiz, build story maps. Other literary activities may include writing an introduction for a book, making a poster, role play, letter writing. Entire gamut of genres we want children to explore can actually be blended with the stuff from the class library.
- Respect for books: Wear and tear of books is a natural concomitant when children use library. They should be engaged in mending books and thus tapes, scissors, glue should be provided to them. Replacing a torn book with money never inculcates in children the value of books as they do not see money as their own and are not engaged in the process of mending.
- Economic costs: Some people might just reject the idea of class library thinking it to be too expensive an affair, however it is not. Quality children’s literature is available in market published by National Book Trust, Children’s Book Trust, Eklavya, Pratham, Scholastic, Tulika, Katha amongst many others that can suit the running costs of the library.
One can attain miraculous reading and learning levels in a classroom if one allocates space for class libraries that is accessible to children. As parents one should demand the schools to provide this rich exposure to children right from kindergarten.
4 comments:
Hi Meeta,
I liked your article. But I feel there are many practical difficulties in organizing class library. One of the biggest hurdle is parent mindset. Often they are not ready to give books from their collection to kept in library because they are sure of the way books are going to handled by other children. Nowadays children do not handle books properly and keep them in poor condition. Besides, how is it possible for teacher to maintain a good library at her own cost? The idea to have class library is good but motivating children to read something other than comics is pretty much difficult.
Hi Sucharita
I admire your questions, because these are the queries of any common person. Let me try sharing one by one.
Parent's are the first ones to be happy one a school has a class library because ultimately it is their ward who shall be benefitted. I am talking from my experience of teaching in a government school as well as an elite private school. Rest class libraries are not difficult to organize at all. Once parent's see the benefits of a reading corner or class library, their attitudes change. Yes, at times we as teachers have to push them too to share their collection becxause they are role models for their children. What they do, children will also imbibe the same quality.
Who said that teachers have to maintain class libraries out of their low incomes. Most schools whether pvt or govt. do have libraries or funds allocated for it on a recurring basis, that needs to be utilized. Rest a passionate teacher like Gijubhai Badheka can also pool resources from his/her own and involve parents to buy picture books. Kindly find time to read Diwaswapna published by NBT, it shall elucidate what I say.
With NBT, CBT, Pratham, Eklavya publishing children literature, class libraries are easily sustainable even in a resource- crunch school system wherein you can buy a picture book worth Rs. 20 or even less.
Rest as my years of experience with young children I can only say that you really do not need to motivate children to read picture books, they are far more appealing than comics and hook children to reading. Go out and practice it. Children like comics over textbooks because the former offers them a world of fiction, entertainment and picture books are also written with the same idea. The problem creeps in when we think we need to teach reading and picture books. We have to change our approach.
Rest This is only an assumption that children do not handle books properly, it is on how you teach them to handle books and involve them in mending books. Let the books wear and tear, when we do not live forever then why we want the books to live forever. Let them be used by children who need them rather than storing it in tall racks and inacessible places.
Hello Meeta,
Class libraries are a great idea in theory but honestly I can't see many schools making the effort to do it, simply because it takes more passion, conviction, vision and effort to make it happen than most educators are willing to invest.
My daughter's class teacher has come up with a zero-fuss idea. They have reading sessions in class on Fridays. Every child brings a story book to school and swaps it with a partner for the duration of the session. She loves getting to read lots of books this way. Happily for them, even kids with frugal resources can make do with swapping just a couple of books with multiple trading partners.
Dear Anonymous parent
I can empathize with you completely. I agree there are very few schools with class libraries or reading corners in class. But I believe that if you really believe in it, gather more parents to voice this to the management.Even the National Curriculum Framework/ Reading Cell at NCERT talks of benefits of a reading corner. As parents you must demand it from school. All what they need to do is feed books from the main library. This reading corner can be an energizer for most students when they have switched over from one activity to another. Idea is not a library reading period once a week, but it is library as it should be handy for learners all the time. I have suggested in my other comments that inexpensive children literature is available in the market, then why a fuss? I have done it even in a govt. school with books displayed on a string/ carton for children to read in between. I simply do not understand why you as parents are quiet about it. NCF recommends it and you have all right to demand it from schools. Do let me know about your efforts in this direction.
Best wishes
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