On Saturday, authors, educators, and librarians came together at the first Bandana Sen Library Awards in the city. Initiated by OneUp, an adapted library and book store space in Vasant Vihar, the awards brought together the likes of Peggy Sood of the American Embassy School; Abha Adams, former director of the Shri Ram School; authors Paro Anand and Mahesh Rao, to form its jury.
OneUp is run by 40-something Dalbir Kaur Madan. The awards, constituted sans any external sponsorship, are a homage to Madan’s late mentor and long-time librarian at the city’s American Embassy School. Sen had also set up the libraries of Pathways, another NCR-based chain of schools. The application encouraged libraries and librarians across the country to submit details based on criteria set out by the jury: the activities they conduct, how they’re re-imagining the use of a library for contemporary Internet-driven times, , and the infrastructure itself.
The point was also, as Madan stresses, to encourage the role of the librarian, who is uniquely posited as an interface between the administration, children, parents, as well as book vendors and publishers. The Shri Ram School, Vasant Vihar, won the award for their Junior Library, The Cathedral & John Connon School, Mumbai, received the award for their Senior Library. The category they won under was titled “excellence in best practices in nurturing learning environments”.
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The jury appreciation awards went to the Shiv Nadar School in Noida, the Abacus Montessori School in Chennai, and Shikshantar School in Gurugram. Overall, close to 100 schools applied, says Madan. Schools from Chennai, Bengaluru and Assam applied, with word of the award spreading through teacher networks.
“The thought of the awards came when Bandana passed away last year. She had a lot of hope in books and the change they could bring. But the question was why is the change only for [the privileged] few,” says Madan. She talks of her nearly five-year-long struggle to gain access to libraries in schools and communities in various cities across northern India and Mumbai, to learn about what was working, and what needed improvement .
At OneUp, you enter into a store of intentionally selected children’s and YA books: “No stationery and other distractions here,” says Madan. The basement is a reading space, and the top floor has a conference studio for library members who’ve consistently done at least five book reviews. The reviews are doodles, drawings, comic-strip reactions to all sorts of literature. Put up everywhere, they make the space with a cheery pre-primary school aesthetic. “The idea is not to give out one more assignment, and tell them to write about what they read. I want them to think about books and stories in whatever way they want to,” Madan says.
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She encourages her 35 members — all between the ages of 3 and 14 — to read consistently by presenting them with little habit tracking pushes like a 40-day challenge chart, where the children can fill in what they’ve read and over how many days, and trophies for a “reading Olympiad”.
OneUp Library, Bookstudio & Learning Lab A-12, Block A, Vasant Vihar; for details: 9779107797