Here is a novel idea of parents to get their children into reading.
With television, Internet and other gadgets stealing away their precious time, children lose fascinating imaginations of childhood. Concerned over this, a group of parents in Coimbatore got together and came up with the idea of opening an online lending library that would deliver books at young readers' doorsteps. As part of their initiative, Babloo, the group also helps schools in building up their collection of books, conducting story-telling sessions, setting up reading corners and classroom libraries.
At a meet organised by Long Long Ago recently, principals, teachers, librarians and correspondents from various schools got together to chalk out ways to improve the collection in their libraries, while creating a passion for reading among students. Citing the inevitable in any book-lovers' list, from the world of Malgudi, Pearl S. Buck's Good Earth to the exceptionally brilliant language in Jawaharlal Nehru's Discovery of India , Ganesan V., Principal of Satchidananda Jyothi Nikethan, urged teachers and librarians to select good books and store enough copies of them. “Don't hesitate to issue books to children just because they failed to return one or two copies,” he said. Students who are good readers should be encouraged to write, he added.
Funny story
Lakshmiganth K., Lead-Marketing and Communication, introduced the humorous story of the ubiquitous Indian snack bonda in the award-winning title A Silly Story of Bondapalli by Shamim Padamsee. He said that they stored award-winning titles from across the world, apart from rare International and regional children's magazines.
Books are selected based on in-house research and request from parents, teachers and children, said N. Hariraj, founder-director, Long Long Ago. By helping school libraries in choosing and sourcing books, categorising and arranging them according to Ascension number codes, the group ensured that quality books and service is offered at schools, he said.
Babloo helps schools in identifying books for non-detailed reading according to the age-group of children. “Introducing children to abridged versions at an early stage will hook them to reading. Methods like round robin reading where they are made to sit together and read out aloud in turns could be used to keep them absorbed,” said Hemalatha Ramesh, business development manager.
The participants suggested that through activities like writing book reviews, re-writing the story in a way they liked and ensuring their favourite characters and reading stories to them and simply letting young children spend time with books would instil love for reading among them.
Long Long Ago's service is available in Bengaluru, Chennai, Coimbatore, Tirupur, Erode and Pollachi. To know more about the books available at the online library and membership plans, check out: http://www.longlongago.in/
