For M. Exen, a Class XII student of Pandiyan Nedunchezhiyan CorporationHigher Secondary School here, spending at least half an hour at his school’s library is part of his daily routine. “I love reading newspapers, especially political news, and books on law as I want to become a lawyer,” he said.
The example of Exen gels well with the United Nations’ theme of this year’s International Literacy Day (September 8), ‘Transforming Literacy Learning Spaces.’ The Hindu spoke to various stakeholders on the occasion.
K. Kanagadurga, librarian of the school, said they had 12,205 books. “We have a collection of subject-wise dictionaries that help students know various technical terms,” she added.
She said general knowledge books and autobiographies were the main attraction among students apart from newspapers. “Every morning students swarm at the newspaper stand and their eagerness to read is heartening,” said Ms. Kanagadurga.
She said she had started sending the library books once in two months to six neighbourhood schools such as Ponmudiyar Corporation Girls’ Higher Secondary School and Kasturba Gandhi Corporation Girls’ Higher Secondary School to encourage students there to read. She also urged the schools to focus on strengthening their libraries.
C. Deepalakshmi, ideator of Read.Explore.Ask.Discover. (READ) Club, Madurai, donated 60 Tamil and English books to the library of Sri Visalakshi Mills High School in Vilangudi on the occasion of International Literacy Day.
K. Thangeswari, Headmistress of the school, said she handpicked storybooks and academic books for the school’s library at every book fair with contributions from donors. “We are slowly encouraging reading habit among students, since the need to help children overcome addiction to mobile phones is severe post-pandemic. At the same time, we received requests from children for more books to read during library hours,” she added.
“Building children’s vocabulary is also important. We introduced the concept of ‘wall dictionaries’. Five new words with meanings in English and Tamil are displayed on a small board outside every classroom every day,” said S. Sashithra, Headmistress of Y. Othakadai Government Girls’ Model Higher Secondary School and a recipient of State’s Dr. S. Radhakrishnan Award in 2022.
Children would be tested on the words every month and the winners would be announced. It had motivated them to learn. Now, many schools had adapted this method, she added.
P. Sivaraman, a teacher at Panchayat Union Primary School in Tiruparankundram, said 100 students from Classes IV to VIII participated in a ‘reading hour’ scheduled as part of International Literacy Day celebration.
T.R. Suryapreethy, who runs Turning Point bookshop at K.K. Nagar, said “Reading habit must start at home. Parents must dedicate ‘reading time’ for children. As a reading and storytelling coach, I can say storytelling works wonderfully well for kids as well as adults as it boosts their visual literacy levels.”
M. Thennavan, Headmaster, Government Middle School at L.K.B. Nagar, said last year he spent 20 days teaching 20 MGNREGS workers aged above 45 years to write their names under ‘Karpom Ezhuthuvom’ , an adult literacy programme of the Department of School Education. “They were reluctant at first, but they gradually warmed up to the idea of knowing how to read and write their own names,” he said.
P. Chellappandi, Head of the Department of Library and Information Sciences, Madurai Kamaraj University, said, “Libraries are the backbone of educational institutions and society itself.”
