Once a common presence in urban ecosystems, the library today stands at crossroads, as it faces an existential crisis in the digital age
Parents, teachers, and librarians must play a key role in instilling the reading habit across homes, schools, and public spaces to ensure a continuous ecosystem is accessible to young readers. Representation Pic/iStock
Trust children to help hold a mirror on our society. Recently, this columnist was invited to be a part of the opening-day shindig centred on the new library at an upscale township in central Mumbai.
For starters, I wasn’t expecting [though I should have, given the address] such a swank space to double up as the library in the conventional sense of the term, given my experiences during my growing-up days. Back then, our libraries were cosy, functional, tiny corners; typically spruced-up, modified areas located in the ground floors or basements of middle-class housing societies. These magical little worlds would spring to life, especially during school vacations. This was quite the upgrade. From high, LED-lit ceilings, to fancy floors and fancier bookshelves with neatly labelled sections, it took some getting used to. The titles were a good mix for a new library, with popular fiction and non-fiction titles for kids and grown-ups. It was an encouraging start for a work-in-progress library.
The evening was a celebration of the written word, the invite said, and so we got to witness a series of events: There was a fancy dress competition based on characters inspired from books; there were readings of self-written poems and essays, a quiz and a treasure hunt with clues from books. Enthusiasm levels were high, going by the buzz and the packed house that I noticed when I arrived at the venue.
Fifteen minutes into my time, and I could see the really young kids get impatient, distracted; decibel levels from that age group started to get shrill; some of the older ones made amends as an excellent audience. Eager-beaver parents weren’t far behind, egging on and playing answer-whisperer to ensure their kids snatched the correct answer; many helped their kids to mouth the correct lines during the fancy dress round.
Twenty minutes later, and it was time for the Mumbai-themed quiz curated by yours truly. But by now, I could second-guess what was to ensue. Some of the bright older kids had left after answering a few questions, for possibly more [or less?] tactile pursuits that were part of their Sunday evening plans. I was hoping to see more participation and presence from middle-schoolers [10-13-year-olds]; interestingly, their parents and grandparents were present in full force. The tinier ones earned full marks for high-energy [and high-octave] levels.
By the time the treasure hunt winners were decided, they were the last ones standing. Books were generously sponsored by one of the core committee members as gifts. The committee was the guiding light, and their conviction to keep this library as an immersive centrepoint of the community, was reassuring.
At the end of the event, I spotted a handful of kids browsing through the library’s bookshelves; some borrowed copies too. It was a pleasing sight but reminded me of the elephant in the room. The goings-on offered at this fun inaugural event reflected the challenges that exist, even when avenues, manpower, and facilities are easily available as was in this case. The intent was genuine but a lot of work and resilience will be required from this doughty band of committee members to ensure that the younger readers across age groups veer towards these bookshelves.
While the Internet has come to envelope our lives, the overwhelming power to take over mindsets and thought processes remains a concern that constantly distracts young readers in particular. Be it for class projects or leisurely activities, today’s children, who were born in the digital world, tend to organically gravitate towards their tablets and gadgets for all the answers. The tactile option is the second, if at all.
The analogue world is possibly obsolete in their eyes. This is why the combined effort from parents, teachers, and librarians, has to be thousand-fold.
On my way home, I was reminded of my conversation with Goa’s Sujata Noronha, champion librarian and educator, who I met on the sidelines of a heritage and literature festival in Panaji. She and her team run a library-based platform Bookworm, and are responsible for encouraging the reading habit not just in its cities and towns but also in its isolated villages, where reading is a luxury. Her stories of success beautifully put things into perspective about challenges among urban and rural milieus.
Parents in big cities ought to go the extra mile, and insist on bookshelves in their homes to instil the habit early on. It has to be as critical as a high-end flatscreen or a state-of-the-art soundbox. Only then will children [hopefully] realise that it is a natural extension to the reading ecosystem, and not a Sunday chore.Sadly, public reading rooms and libraries are getting phased out, with rising rents and fewer benevolent supporters.
Hence, it is up to common folk, be it the Good Samaritans in swish townships, or dedicated librarians who go the extra mile to reach far-off readers, to fill the vacuum and ensure that today’s kids don’t lose out on the joy of holding a storybook, reading it from start to end and realising that it could be the portkey to a magical world of discoverability, like how earlier generations discovered it in the analogue era.
mid-day’s Features Editor Fiona Fernandez relishes the city’s sights, sounds, smells and stones...wherever the ink and the inclination takes her. She tweets @bombayana
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The views expressed in this column are the individual’s and don’t represent those of the paper.
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