Dear Teachers,

Akshara Foundation, a Bangalore based not-for profit organization is striving to increase the educational outcomes of the children who are part of Government schools. In the context, the Foundation has various programmes designed to help Government School children perform to thier best. Library programme is one of those programmes, whose objective is to provide child friendly books, promote reading skills, encourage reading habit and hence sustain thier reading skills.

Section on Libraries in NCF 2005, states that One period needs to be devoted for Library reading. Child should be provided with opportunity to choose the book of his/her choice, rather than teacher providing the same. Children should be encouraged to look up references in Library resources for their class projects. Library books should be used widely during Language class. Children should be asked to write on what they have read, and share the story during Language class.

To summarize NCF 2005 guidelines, it is evident that 'The school library should be embedded into the school at all levels that acts as an intellectual space where teachers, children and members of the community find the means to deepen their knowledge and imagination'.

Akshara Foundation's Library programme came to existence during 2007-08, wherein every Govt. School in Bangalore Urban district was provided with a Library service for 3 years, later the libraries were transitioned into the school system (As per MoU with Govt. Of Karnataka). The programme was independently designed by the Foundation, but the processes directly coincide with the NCF 2005 guidelines on Libraries.

Akshara Foundation's Library programme includes sections on selection of child friendly books, grading books at child appropriate levels, issuing books, checking what a child has read, activities that support reading, and how to look at child's progress.

In 2013-14, Akshara Foundation oriented teachers of 87 selected schools of Bangalore urban district , on Library processes. Towards the end of the academic year, it is evident that the children are initiated reading at higher levels, also teachers seems to enthusistically engage themselves in Library class.

Akshara Foundation appreciates all the teachers who have accepted the principles enshrined in NCF 2005 and supported the Library programme.

- Library ResourceTeam

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Table of Contents

Akshara Foundation's Library Programme, an Introduction......................................................................................................4AKSHARA FOUNDATION'S LIBRARY PROCESS...............................................................................................................5

1. Selection of Child-friendly books:..............................................................................................................................................52. Grading of content into child-appropriate levels........................................................................................................................63. What happens in a Library..........................................................................................................................................................7

3.1. Time-table............................................................................................................................................................................73.2. Conducting a Library...........................................................................................................................................................73.3. Activities to encourage reading...........................................................................................................................................73.4. Book-Issue method............................................................................................................................................................103.5. Check on what a child has read.........................................................................................................................................10

4. To track every child's reading progress.....................................................................................................................................11

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Akshara Foundation's Library Programme, an IntroductionAkshara Foundation is a non profit organization, striving towards improving the educational outcomes of Government school children.

Library Programme is one of the important programmes of Akshara Foundation. During 2006-07, Akshara Foundation designed a “Reading

Programme” in all the Government Schools of Bangalore North and South districts. This programme brought about vast improvements in

children’s reading levels. In order to provide these children with continued reading material and induce reading habit, the Library programme was

implemented in all the government schools of North and South districts of Bangalore during 2007-08, with a MoU between Akshara Foundation

and Education Department, Govt. Of Karnataka.

Akshara's Library programme was started in all 1420 government schools of Bangalore urban district, covering all 9 Educational Blocks. Library

service was provided to the children of all these schools through a Hub-and-Spoke model, wherein the school that housed a physical library is

known as 'Hub' and the smaller schools in the vicinity linked to this hub were called as 'Spokes'. One Librarian was appointed and trained, for

executing the Library service at each 'Hub'.

Apart from issuing story books, many activities were designed and implemented in Akshara Libraries. The guiding principles for conducting the

Library programme was the very profile of the children who attend government schools. It was important to keep in mind their skills in reading, as

well as the fact that they probably saw little or no print material in their homes.

Encouraging the reading among the children.

Book-based activities that would reinforce the class room concepts to children.

Use of free play material such as Lego bricks to encourage creativity among children.

Organizing Makkala Habbas which offer a platform to exhibit children's talent to the community.

Introducing volunteers to schools, who read to children and conducted creative activities.

Distribution of computers to schools and training in usage of computers..

As per the MoU with the Education Department, Akshara Foundation had set-up Libraries and provided Library service for 3 years. Later in

2009-10 and 2010-11, Akshara Foundation transitioned Library programme to 1283 schools, and continued its service in 135 schools for another

2 years.

In this academic year, Akshara Foundation will continue to support 87 selected schools in Bangalore Urban district, and 257 schools from

Hoskote Taluk with its Library service. In these schools, the teachers will continue with Library activities in their respective schools.

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AKSHARA FOUNDATION'S LIBRARY PROCESS

The programme consists of the following modules for turning the children into better readers.1. Selection of Child-friendly books.2. Grading of content into child-appropriate levels.3. What happens in a Library.

3.1.Library Period3.2. Conducting a Library3.3. Activities to encourage reading.3.4. Book Issue procedure.3.5. Feedback on what a child has read.

4. Track progress in children's reading pattern.

1. Selection of Child-friendly books:

Libraries are meant to be a treasury of Books. Hence, it is important to keep suitable books for children in the School Libraries.

Children generally like books that have simple sentences and contain attractive pictures. Story books are a great attraction to children and would constitute a large proportion of books in the school libraries.

According to NCF 2005, children are required to look up Library resources for their class projects, and Library books to be used in language class; the following ideas will help to select suitable books for children:

1. Books should contain larger fonts, hence would be easier to read, especially children who have newly learnt decoding of words.

2. Include books that cover a range of subjects and genres – history, math, geography, space, science, basic concepts, humour, fantasy,

adventure, value-based, fiction, fun and activity, classics, historic fiction, biographies/ autobiographies,

3. Bilinguals are a good choice in the libraries.

4. Children like books that contain humour; hence these books can also be bought.

5. Preference may be given to Titles that are simultaneously available in multiple regional languages (Kannada, Urdu, Tamil, Telugu)

6. Offer books that the children can relate too. However, do also include some books which may be new or have strange concepts

but which will however help in bridging the gap between the strange and familiar.

7. The books should not contain writings that encourage biases in terms of religion, sex, race, caste, colour, language etc.

8. Avoid books that define a moral at the end. Let the child read and interpret values embedded in stories.

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2. Grading of content into child-appropriate levelsIt would be helpful for the children to select the books easily, if the books are graded into different levels. In general, the books can be graded

using multiple principles. Ex: According to Subjects, Language, Complexity in text, Total length of the book etc.

Among these, grading of books based on the number of sentences per page has proved to be a more effective method. This method is known

as GROWBY technique, adopted from Hippocampus Reading Foundation. The intent of this method, is to encourage child to read more, in a

level that he/she is comfortable, and thus enhance reading skills.

The advantages of this method are:

It allows one to grade book of any language, even if one doesn't know the language.

It allows the child to make an intelligent choice of books at a particular Reading

level;

It helps the child to achieve a sense of progress and improvement;

It helps the Librarian watch and track each child's reading ability.

In GROWBY technique, the books are graded into 6 levels based on the number of

sentences on each page. The levels are as follows:

Level Green: 1-2 sentences per page with attractive pictures.

Level Red: 3-4 sentences per page with attractive pictures.

Level Orange: 5-6 sentences per page with attractive pictures.

Level White: 7-8 sentences per page with attractive pictures.

Level Blue: 9-10 sentences per page, with/without pictures.

Level Yellow: More than 11 sentences per page, with/without pictures.

It will be easier to distribute the books, if all the teachers grade them and paste relevant

sticker on each book whenever new books are purchased.

3. What happens in a Library

3.1. Time-tableIn order that the Libraries function in a regular manner and to encourage and induce reading habits in the children, a documented Library

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Time Table for every class in every school plays a vital role.

As per NCF 2005, one library period a week has to be devoted in every school. In this context, it is important for the HM's of every school to

allot a Library period to each class once a week and execute the same. This also helps in developing a mode of discipline among the children.

3.2. Conducting a LibraryLibrary class is not meant to just issue books to the children. Instead, a number of activities can be conducted within a Library class. In this context Akshara Foundation's Library class consists of two main activities in a given Library period:

a) A Creative Activity session (Initial 20 mins) and b) A Book Checkout session (lasting 20 mins)

Accordingly, in a period of 40 mins, teacher conducts activities for children during first 20 mins, which is followed by issuing of story books

in the next 20 minutes. The details on activities and Issue methodology is described in section 3.3 and 3.4.

3.3. Activities to encourage reading

It is evident that if children are exposed to a wide reange of print material, which also fosters better understanding of class-room curriculum,

then the Library could truly be said to be an enriching experience. In general, the activities encourage creativity in children, and encourage

them to be curious and motivate them to read more. The following activities can be conducted by teachers in their school libraries.

Book-based role-play activities.

Loud Reading activity.

BookFace and book-linking activities.

Story Telling.

Reading together activity.

Apart from the above activities, additionally the teachers can conduct

LEGO model building activities.

Computer based activities.

3.3.1. Book-based role-play activities: The Book-Based Activities are structured activities which help a teacher conduct a role-play in the Library which in turn helps children understand aspects of their classroom curriculum, as manifested in books.

Ex: The concept of 'Like and Unlike terms' could be taught more effectively using the story book 'The Village Fair'.

The activity can be conducted by the following method:

Brief reading of the book

Using of the “Beginning Questions” to depart from the Book and motivate the Activity.

Introducing the role-play and conducting it

Using the “Ending Questions” to verify that Children have imbibed the intended lesson.

Finally, ask the children to read the book completely.

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3.3.2. Loud Reading activity: In order to develop skills in reading, Loud reading is a key activity. This activity helps to give confidence to children, also enhances their vocabulary.

Children are grouped, provided with story cards or multiple copies of the same book, and are asked to:

Read loudly and clearly.

Read at a slow pace.

Use voice modulation to represent different characters.

Enact the story.

3.3.3. BookFace and Book-linking activities:

BookFace: This is a project where children are asked to write a one-page report on one of the books they have read in the month. The

template is in the form of questions, therefore children need to answer some questions, going from the known aspects such as location and

events to interpretations, and also imaginatively providing alternative endings to the story and representing the same in a picture form.

Ex: Alternate ending to the story, what would I have done if I was the character in the story ..... and so on.

Book-linking activities: This is another project, wherein children see themes, ideas and concepts that are common across books in the

Libraries and are asked to find and make lists of books that have some aspects in common

For example: Stories that involve journeys or visits; books illustrated in the same style, or written by the same author.

The activities help build taste and discernment among children.

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3.3.4. Story-telling activity: Telling stories is one of the most basic and natural activities in any Library. Children invariably listen with rapt attention to a good story and need no prompting to seek out specific books after a good story telling session. The teachers should keep in mind the following while doing a story-telling activity.

The name of the Story and the Author should be introduced without fail.

ALWAYS pose some interesting questions at the start to kindle curiosity, instead of moving on to the story at the start.

DO NOT CRITICIZE any child for having answered wrongly. Instead gently tell the children not to answer in different manner,

which helps retain and maintain their complete participation.

Synchronize the actions with the Story Telling + Voice (for different characters use different voice variations).

Question at periodic intervals to check if children are following the narration.

3.3.5. Reading together activity: A variation of the Loud reading activity, where-in the groups will be formed such that there is a mix of children based on their reading abilities. A child who is fluent in reading starts reading to the group, and the rest follow the text and repeats after him/her. This can help children to comprehend better, and results in peer-learning.

Additional activities:

3.3.6. LEGO model building activities: Childrens play material such as Lego Bricks help children build models based on their vision and

idea of the books that they have read. The models they build in the Libraries helps children to build their imagination, vocabulary and

expression. These activities can also be linked to story books, and finally linked to class-room curriculum.

For example: Using the story book 'Drip-Drop-Drip' and LEGO bricks, the children can practically be shown the mechanism of hearing in

humans.

3.3.7. Computer based activities: Ubuntu, a linux based operating system has variety of educational activities for the children, which could be used to teach children. (Separate training should be planned for this activity)

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3.4. Book-Issue methodWhen the Librarian meets the children in a given Class for the very first time, she does the following:

1. Children are grouped in 5 per group based on their Register Number.

2. The Books are stacked in piles on the table based on their Grade.

3. The first group of children are invited to come to the Table

4. Each child picks up a book of her choice. The name of the book along with the child’s name is recorded by the teacher. The Child is

also asked to mark up the Reading Histogram, which is discussed in the next Section

5. After first group is issued with, the teacher calls out 2nd group, 3rd group ... and so on.

6. The Teacher issues books to all children in order until each child has been issued a book.

In the subsequent visits, the procedure will be as follows:

7. Have all children who were present first return back the books borrowed previously. Teachers record this information. In doing so it

will become apparent which children are ABSENT. It will also become apparent which books are damaged and need replacement.

8. The Books returned are then stacked in piles on the table based on their Grade. New books if any are introduced, and added to the

respective stacks. Old books that have been mostly read by all children are removed.

9. Again ask the children to come and select books, but with one important difference: the Librarian skips first group children and starts

with the next group. She continues down the class as per the Register number and loops back to the top of the list. In each subsequent

Library class, the Librarian skips one additional cohort and starts with the next one. This has the effect that each child in the class

gets to pick a book first over a period of time, and can choose from the entire book collection.

10. At this stage, the teacher records the information, also suggests children to mark in the Histogram chart.

3.5. Check on what a child has readFurther, in EVERY Library period, the Librarian asks a few simple questions to the first cohort of children:

For example: What is the last story you read? What is it about? Who was the main character? What was the main event there? Can you

narrate the story? - This helps to check what a child has read.

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4. To track every child's reading progressReading Histogram is used to know the effectiveness of Libraries. It is a tool that shows the Library status. Histogram charts need to be put

up at a height within a child’s reach in every class room.

The procedure of marking on the Histogram chart:

X-axis shows the months, and Y-axis shows

the levels of the books.

Each child is asked to mark a cross-mark (“X,

√”) against the Reading Level of the book

borrowed pertaining to that month.

Each mark will represent a book in the

Histogram chart. With this, the information

on what books the child has borrowed can be

obtained. Instead, clouds of coloured crosses

at each Reading Level can be seen, that

shows which level books have higher

frequenvy of borrowing.

The advantages of this method are:

Shows the Library effectiveness to those who visit the Library.

Gives an idea on Library performance.

Children love to do this activity.

Also, can be self-motivational tool for the children to read more.

Also, Library effectiveness can be looked at by analysing the Issue records maintained by the teachers. Teachers record the

information as suggested, and share the same with Head Teachers and Cluster Resource Persons. In turn, Cluster Resource Person

can review the information, select the best performer and could appreciate them during Samalochana Sabhe.

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PUBLISHER'S DETAILS

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Sl No Name of the Publisher Address Contact Number Email Address

1 Pratham 25429726/27/28

2 Tulika

3 New Book House 08192-222479

4 Vasan Publications 26705679

5 Navneet 23465740

6 Navakarnataka 22203580/81/82

7 CBT 9844024937

8 NBT 26711994

9 Ankita Pustaka 2661710010 Scholastic

11 IL&FS 56947575

12 Ekalavya Publications (0755) 2463380

13 Navakarnataka1 22203580/81/82

14 Pustak Mahal 22234025

15 Annapoorna Prakashana 988080255116 Macmillan 75,Church street,Bangalore-560001 25585424

17 Media Fusion

633-634,4th 'C' main,6th 'B' Cross,OMBR layout,Banasawadi,Bangalore-560043 arathi.pratham@gmail.com

13,Prithvi Avenue,Abhiramapuram,Chennai-600018 tulikabooks@vsnl.com

Behind Old R.T.O Office,7th cross,15th Main,Kuvempunagar,M.C.C.B

Block,Davangere-4

25,Vasan Towers,Dr T.C.M Rayan Road(Goodshed Road),Bangalore-560053

info@mastermindbooks.com

Sri balaji's,no 12,2nd Floor,3rd Cross,Malleshwaram,next to Hotel Halli

mane,Bangalore-560003 suresh_rohan2002@yahoo.co.in

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sbasu@scholastic.co.in

The IL&FS Financial Centre,3rd Floor,Plot No C22,G Block,bandra Kurla

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Embassy Center,11,Crescent Road,Kumara park east,Post Box No 5159,bangalore-

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