The library is the heart of the schools! For me, it is the most adventurous place in the world because the library consists of scholarly books from which we get various information on several subjects, artefacts, and many more. Books not only provide information but also blow our minds by opening different perspectives for multiple situations, which helps us differentiate between right and wrong. It is always said that ‘books are our best friends because they never leave us alone.’
As we believe, the friend’s home is always a second home for us. Similarly, the library is the home of books and a second home for us, and it is also the central part of the school in which they cater all the valuable material for students.
As we have a very brief idea about what a library, but did you ever get a question in your mind about when the school library event took place and who was the person behind it? The concept of the school library was introduced by a group of librarians led by Melvil Dewey, and it was necessitated in the early pre-independence era of the United States. The American Library Association (ALA) was the first library association in America with the sponsorship of National Library Week.
Libraries have been crucial and an old source of information; older libraries integrate much historical information, which is helpful for today’s generation of students, archaeologists, and researchers.
But as time is revolving, schools are catering the well-equipped air-conditioned and computerized libraries with more than 22,000 material which includes books, DVDs, CDs, videos, subscriptions to 47 periodicals and it has been added continually, also they cater a range of reference books, journals, encyclopedia, newspapers, and Wi-Fi facility to enhance the classroom activities and knowledge.
The primary motive of the schools is to provide knowledge to the students, which is possible through the proper education and being a human of today’s generation.
There is no knowledge without education; similarly, without libraries, there are no schools; every school needs to have library sessions for the students. It will help them know many things apart from their regular studies and enhance their reading or writing skills and improves the students’ academic performances.
Pedagogy of the Library
The school library is another pedagogy like classroom learning, but the library helps the students to enhance their skills and knowledge like reading, writing, and enriching their general knowledge. Let’s dive into knowing about the sound library pedagogy and adequate library services support in teaching and learning.
- Inclusive in nature
The school libraries are a place where diversity is equipped and renowned through their spaces and services, which provide equal opportunity to access the knowledge, services and resources which are primary. It helps students connect with various ideas and like-minded people through physical and digital contexts.
- Readers Library
The library plays an important role in developing the reading habits of students, which leads them to work with teachers to develop learning programmes. The reading material informs, engages, extends, enraptures, and challenges the students, ultimately developing the readers’ curiosity. The library inspires, creates, supports the readers, and connects with their pleasures. It also promotes multiple languages, texts, symbols, and literacies.
- Students are at the Centre
A library is the centre of schools and maintains the connection between the library and students. Schools need to cater all the books, journals, encyclopedias, reference text, research papers, and many more literacy materials to enhance students’ base knowledge.
The students, readers, and writers are the centre of the school library. It also helps the students learn and absorb the different languages and allows them to understand the various linguistic literatures and grasp the provided information.
- Librarians are Educators and Enablers
A librarian is a person who is innovative and flexible in nature and must be aware of the ongoing educational trends and ideas. They should implement creative ideas and technology in the school libraries.
The librarian makes optimum use of technology to support the continuous learning of teachers, students, and other school communities. They proactively engage themselves to cultivate and participate in different learning programs for their learning networks and communities, which ultimately encourages them to imitate the developments and learning of others in their school’s library.
The library has been a vital space for sharing knowledge, but due to the advanced technology, students rarely go to the libraries. However, the schools still maintained the libraries on their premises and deciphered the importance of libraries and books in our life.
Benefits of Dawdling in Library
Remembering your school days, you must know that during free lectures, school teachers took us to libraries to read books. As we belong to the technology-savvy world, we refuse to go library because we depend more on technology. But earlier, the scenario was quite different as students love to spend their leisure time in libraries. There are certain benefits of spending leisure time in the library for students’ academics.
- The Opulence of Intellectual Sources
Suppose someone’s primary purpose is to gain knowledge. In that case, a well-stocked library is an excellent source of information, and prominent scholars articulated books are collected in the libraries. They are easily found in libraries rather than on the internet.
In the fast-paced world with the enormous expansion of knowledge, textbooks are not competent to provide comprehensive learning to students. It is the only place where students get supplementary material and realizes the necessity for writing research papers and conducting project work.
- Enriches the Concentration Power
The most peaceful place in schools is the library. Whenever we visit the school library, there will always be a serene environment, which helps us concentrate on our reading and writing work. Studying in such a tranquil environment enriches the concentration power.
- Surplus Mentorships
The librarians act as a mentor in the libraries because whenever the students get stuck on points, librarians guide the students in the right direction, and they also guide them to find the best resource for their learning.
- Strengthen the Reading Habits
As we know, technological advancements have definite advantages in our lives, but there are always two sides to every development. Today, techno-savvy devices are the addiction of our generation, which has hampered our reading habits and indirectly impacted our language, vocabulary, and grammar.
But when we try to improve our language, grammar, and vocabulary, there is only one activity to enhance all these skills: reading. The libraries in schools play a vital role in enhancing literacy and reading pleasures.
Closing Up
The school library is an important centre on the premises, which provides an opportunity to search for various information in books to gain knowledge. It is a silent place with a tranquil environment that helps you focus on your learnings. Due to technological advancements, libraries provide internet services for additional information and enhance library services.