Lobbying for libraries in Tamil Nadu

In a tiny colony successful Tamil Nadu’s Tiruvallur district, B. Rejina, a pupil of the Panchayat Union Primary School, Vellambakkam, flips done her English textbook. She reads aloud the acquisition taught the time before, astir a goat that goes missing and its travel backmost location with its shepherd. “I similar English, and I similar reading. Whenever I get textbooks, I work my English publication first. I bash not person different storybooks astatine home, truthful I support re-reading it,” Ms. Rejina said.

The lone room successful her colony remains closed. Although it was renovated earlier this year, it has yet to beryllium opened.

Ms. Rejina’s thirst for speechmaking mightiness not beryllium the norm. Globally, parents, teachers, and acquisition activists lament that children nary longer work for leisure – and its repercussions person been manifold. “Children present work lone for a purpose. With an abundance of accusation disposable done pictures and videos, the joyousness of speechmaking for leisure is declining. This has decidedly impacted their vocabulary and connection styles. The due usage of contextual words is nary longer being practised, and their grade-level penning proficiency has besides suffered,” said Lakshmi Prabha, principal, Prasan Vidya Mandir, Chengalpattu.

Tamil Nadu’s State-level Achievement Survey, whose study was released this twelvemonth by the State Planning Commission, assessed the learning outcomes of students successful Classes 3, 5, and 8. It recovered that proficiency successful English, Math, and Science declined arsenic students precocious to higher grades. Class 8 students successful authorities and government-aided schools scored little than 40% successful these subjects. The caller ASER study showed that portion the State has made important advancement successful speechmaking levels since 2022 – rising from 4.8% to 12% successful 2024 – acknowledgment to the State’s involution done Ennum Ezhuthum, determination is inactive a agelong mode to go.

Where are the libraries?

The Right to Education Act, 2009, successful its norms and standards for schools, specifies that each schoolhouse indispensable person a room that provides newspapers, magazines, and books connected each subjects, including storybooks.

In authorities schools successful Tamil Nadu, libraries are often not spacious rooms with shelves stacked with books up to the ceiling. If they are lucky, a schoolhouse mightiness person a dedicated room, but sometimes it is conscionable a ample shelf, a cupboard, oregon adjacent a cardboard box. “We bash person a tiny room country successful our authorities precocious school, but since we are disquieted that students mightiness teardrop the books, we bash not let them inside. We support it locked,” said a main of a authorities schoolhouse successful Ramanathapuram. Schools mostly bash not person a abstracted fund to acquisition books of involvement and trust connected the School Education Department to proviso books for the library.

There are implicit 4,640 nationalist libraries successful Tamil Nadu and 14 mobile libraries, according to the website of the Directorate of Public Libraries. A room rank successful Chennai costs ₹30 per twelvemonth for a child, ₹60 for an adult, and ₹110 for a family, with a renewal interest of ₹10 each year.

Most children and their parents are not alert of the beingness of a authorities room successful their area. S. Sumithra, a nonmigratory of Mogappair, Chennai, who runs a tiny pushcart eatery, said she did not cognize that libraries were disposable for radical similar her. “My lad loves to work and keeps speechmaking his textbooks. We utilized to get books from my erstwhile employers due to the fact that we cannot spend to bargain the large representation books; they are expensive. Now that I cognize a room adjacent my spot exists, I volition spell sometime. But I person to enactment to marque definite I tin nonstop my kid to school, truthful I americium not definite erstwhile I tin really marque clip to go,” she added.

A librarian astatine a nationalist room successful Chennai said that not galore children sojourn her library, but those who bash are precise funny successful the representation books. These books, however, are not arsenic wide disposable successful Tamil, and the English postulation is rather small. She added that determination has been an summation successful patronage owed to greater awareness.

Recognising the request for storybooks for children successful child-friendly language, the School Education Department introduced Vaasippu Iyakkam (Reading Movement) successful 2023. Child-friendly books successful 4 categories, based connected children’s speechmaking levels, are present disposable successful Tamil and English. “The inaugural was meant to assistance students research books beyond their textbooks. The teacher reads the communicative to them first, past asks them to work it, and the kid explains the communicative arsenic they progress. They tin besides instrumentality these books location to read,” said a authorities schoolhouse teacher.

Manjula, a teacher astatine a authorities schoolhouse successful Tiruvottriyur, said that the main thought of Vaasippu Iyakkam was to guarantee that students handled books different than their textbooks. “Even if they teardrop them, the section said it is alright. The books are lone fixed to work during the luncheon hour, on with the Education Department magazines Oonjal and Thenchittu. Only erstwhile teachers kindle a emotion for speechmaking volition children statesman to bask schoolhouse and learning,” she said.

Primary schoolhouse teachers enactment that portion students bask the Vaasippu Iyakkam books, they seldom travel up with different books that mightiness involvement the children. “Since this is department-mandated, we travel it. We bash not adjacent person clip to implicit our syllabus. How are we going to instrumentality them to adjacent libraries oregon suggest different books?’ asked M. Manimegalai, president of the Tamil Nadu Primary Teachers Federation.

Finding joyousness successful reading

Geetha Kannan began introducing books and speechmaking to her girl erstwhile she was conscionable implicit 1 twelvemonth old. She work aloud to her for six oregon 7 months earlier her kid showed involvement successful looking done the books. “It started retired arsenic an enactment to support her occupied portion we were moving from home. But with encouragement from my friends connected the close benignant of books for her, we kept astatine it until she recovered her ain interest,” said the parent of the nine-year-old girl.

The child’s interest, Ms. Geetha found, laic successful the transportation betwixt cartoons and their publication variations. “She truly likes Peppa Pig, truthful erstwhile she started seeing those books, she people gravitated towards them. We would work aloud to her, and soon she picked it up and would thumb done it herself, staying engrossed for hours,” Ms. Geetha added.

Today, her girl has go a voracious reader, moving connected to section books with pictures. She soon began talking astir the books to her friends, which helped make much consciousness astir the kinds of books they could look for. “She present knows galore much words and asks astir their meanings. She is astatine an property wherever she wants answers to galore questions, truthful she reads a batch of communicative non-fiction,” Ms. Geetha said.

Madhumitha S., a Class 8 pupil of a Corporation School successful Chennai, was introduced to English storybooks done a Teach For India (TFI) Fellow astatine the school. “I would work my textbooks but ne'er truly enactment overmuch thought into immoderate different benignant of reading,” she said.

The TFI Fellow initiated a play travel to the Anna Centenary Library (ACL) each Saturday morning, wherever Ms. Madhumitha and her peers could research the books. “It was truthful overmuch fun. We would beryllium and work aloud and past prime our ain books. I would inquire astir caller words I did not understand, and we would sermon our favourite parts. I had visited the room doubly before, but I had ne'er truly explored it,” Ms. Madhumitha said.

Since then, she has consistently made an effort to sojourn the room each week and read. This time, however, arsenic the TFI chap had graduated, Ms. Madhumitha, her friends, and her member decided to sojourn the room connected their own. “It is not arsenic fun. I americium not definite which books are suitable for me. There is nary 1 to sermon the books with oregon usher me. I present notation to a dictionary to larn new, hard words and inquire my teachers erstwhile I person doubts,” said Ms. Madhumitha, who is presently speechmaking Three Men successful a Boat.

Ms. Geetha, too, echoed Ms. Madhumitha’s concerns astir guidance. “My kid has visited a room twice. But determination is nary room astatine her CBSE school, truthful determination is nary 1 to truly usher her successful her speechmaking travel oregon assistance her instrumentality it forward,” she added.

According to the reply to a Right to Information Act (RTI) query posed by The Hindu, astatine present, authorities schools successful Tamil Nadu person nary librarian posts. In government-aided schools, erstwhile the designated librarian retires, the station volition automatically lapse, the reply stated. 

“Schools indispensable measurement up and acceptable up a due library,” said Thenkanal Isaimozhi, State co-ordinator of Palli Kalvi Paathukapu Iyakkam. “Children would beryllium much funny if they could acquisition a room environment, arsenic it would connection much opportunities for storytelling and sharing ideas. Public libraries, too, deficiency capable resources – specified arsenic representation books, comics, and different novels – for children to proceed their speechmaking journey.”

Chennai-based educationist and erstwhile acquisition specializer astatine United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Aruna Rathnam noted the request to put successful assemblage libraries for larger resources, which foster speechmaking habits done activities for the community. “The schools could besides person children work to others,” she added.

A reliable guide

The question, however, remains: who volition usher the anxious children connected their speechmaking path?

At the Chennai Primary School, V. Teynampet, nine-year-old Aaisha Naic demanded that her uncle bargain her storybooks for her birthday. She precocious discovered the joyousness of speechmaking done a TFI involution programme. “I did not work immoderate books 2 years ago. Now I similar speechmaking successful English too. I got The Woodcutter and the Angel, The Hare and the Tortoise, and a publication connected Sir Isaac Newton,” she said.

Anant Kapur, a TFI Fellow, noted that erstwhile helium archetypal started teaching astatine the superior school, determination was a batch of fearfulness surrounding the English language. “Some students had occupation identifying letters oregon communal words. But erstwhile we helped them recognize that connection is simply a instrumentality for communication, it motivated them to larn and work more. We began with read-aloud sessions,” helium added.

Mr. Anant makes definite that they work aft the luncheon interruption astatine slightest doubly a week and ever person a storybook successful hand. “So if they felt bored, they had a publication to crook to alternatively of a mobile telephone oregon different device. Now, they tin clasp a speech connected their ain successful English,” helium added.

Gurunath M., a Class 4 student, stressed that if a akin attack was taken with Tamil, and much representation books were disposable successful the language, past Tamil, too, would beryllium truthful overmuch easier to work and understand. “I work truthful galore books present and archer my parents astir it. It besides improved my knowing successful Science, which is my favourite subject. I privation to go a scientist,” helium added.  

Banupriya Jagadeesan, who runs The Reading Space, a assemblage room successful Cuddalore that offers room services to 3 schools successful Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, echoed this sentiment. She noted that the casual availability of representation books successful English truly helps children to work and larn better. “Such representation books, however, are not disposable arsenic overmuch successful Tamil. Because of this, determination is not capable request for them either,” she added. 

Tamil Nadu Textbook and Educational Services Corporation (TNTESC) Managing Director M. Aarthi said: “The kid has to bask speechmaking successful the Tamil language, and we are moving towards that. Apart from VassipuIyyakkam, nether the IlanThalirIlakkiyaThittam, we are publishing much children’s representation books successful Tamil.”

Pointing retired that implicit 32 lakh copies of 200 children’s titles would beryllium sent to authorities schools successful the State wrong a month, she added that this would assistance children beforehand their speechmaking skills.

A caller role

Viji Thiyagarajan, Director, Libraries-South Asia, British Council, points retired that the aboriginal of libraries lies successful the fusion of carnal and integer libraries. “It is existent that integer distractions vie powerfully for children’s attraction today. However, our acquisition shows thing encouraging – erstwhile speechmaking is introduced to children successful ways that consciousness playful, social, and imaginative, they statesman to bask it. The cardinal is not to unit speechmaking habits but to nurture curiosity and prime from an aboriginal age,” she said.

Speaking of caller initiatives successful Karnataka, she highlighted however agrarian libraries successful the State person entree to British Council events happening anyplace successful the world. Recently, the British Council, successful concern with the Karnataka government, installed ‘British Council corners’ successful agrarian nationalist libraries, too ‘digital room walls’ that springiness the nationalist escaped entree to its resources. 

Janaka Pushpanathan, Director, South India, British Council, besides noted that assorted speechmaking challenges, specified arsenic speechmaking a definite fig of books successful a week, designed to promote children to work much person seen accrued participation. “Further, we besides behaviour intensive workshops for parents, truthful they tin assistance instrumentality their child’s speechmaking acquisition forward,” she added.

Pointing retired the assorted ways successful which schoolhouse and nationalist libraries tin measurement up to foster speechmaking habits among children, Shailaja Menon, consultant, acquisition theme, Tata Trusts, said that a wide and varied enactment of speechmaking materials indispensable archetypal beryllium made available. “Libraries indispensable person ceremonial and informal speechmaking fora – for parents and teachers excessively – to stock accusation astir children’s books, and the excitement surrounding reading,” she added.  

Anna Centenary Library’sChief Librarian S. Kamatchi, however, noted that attracting children to libraries is besides an important task. “Parents volition beryllium interested, but the kid needs assorted activities and different events to bring them to the library. Once they spot the ambiance successful the room – with books each astir and radical speechmaking – they volition enquire astir memberships,” she said. 

ACL, on these lines, has started assorted events specified arsenic summertime camps, storytelling sessions, Korean connection classes, robotics classes, and movie screenings.

Children’s writer and subject pedagogue R. ‘Aisha’ Natarajan termed libraries a spot of invention. “It is simply a spot made up of ideas. When students get the state to roam astir and take their books, it helps nurture them. Today’s libraries are made for research, but they request to beryllium made into a spot for discussions,” helium further said.