The library: a place of being and becoming
Usha Mukunda
A library by its very nomenclature is a repository, a collection of the essence of culture. This is how it is envisioned in its finest form. However I wish to look at the immense possibilities of a library space in bringing about a culture of freedom and enquiry. Space is not only a physical space but a space to grow, to inhale the ambience, and most crucially, to become inwardly aware. Rumi, the Persian poet expresses this so beautifully in this couplet.
“Yesterday I was clever so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”
So what are these intangible markers of an exemplary library which can bring this about? As a school and children’s librarian for many years, I have seen how children and young people can bloom and become strong individuals when they grow, learn and mature in an environment that is exposing them to forms of culture, both traditional and contemporary, ancient and modern, true and untrue. Can the school library sow the seed of thinking differently, and actively nurture such minds? I feel it can be done. Let us look more specifically at the kind of space we wish to bring about which can keep this culture alive.
A social space
Young people, as we well know, love to socialize and mingle. In the present context they are heavily invested in such spaces in a cyber world. In the school library we can promote and actively enhance a live and interactive space. This is a free flowing space and can spring up in any situation or context. It is not a designated place meant for socializing! I am a firm believer in spontaneous combustion. Things and people meet whenever and wherever and when they do, things happen. Can the library be home to such happenings? Sometime ago, I was having a dialogue with 15-year-olds about using Google and other Internet sources for information. I saw that we might quickly get into opposing positions. So I asked them if they would speak alternately for and against Internet as a sole source of information. It sounded like fun to them to hear one another and they began. What emerged was a nuanced approach to the question where everyone spoke and everyone listened, including the adult. As an icing to this cake, I spotted an ex-student sitting nearby who had gone on to do his Phd in USA. I invited him in to contribute to the discussion and he opened up the Wikipedia world for them with pros and cons. I saw that the young people were invigorated by this unstructured session.
An inclusive space – a diverse place – a space of equality
Inclusion is the bedrock of the school library. This is so with the collection, the users, the teachers and the library staff. No book, film or human being is excluded without true cause. How does this become apparent to the students? One amazing session was taken by a teacher-librarian on banned books. He provided a list, procured as many as he could, and after reading some, the young adults began to talk about why they might have been barred from libraries.
With younger children, one picks up a more unusual book to open up this aspect of inclusion and equality. “The Unboy boy,” “Head Curry,” “The boy who asked questions,” “Why are you afraid to hold my hand?” and many others.
A safe space
In many parts of the world, the library has been a sanctuary in times of trouble. In a powerful paper on Croatian war experiences, we are told how children were kept safe and happily engaged through reading and related activities. Even if we are not facing a similar situation, we can share these writings with our students so that they are aware of the role of a library at all times. For younger children, a segment in “Miss Moore thought otherwise” about the life of Miss Anne Moore, reflects this. “Outside the library walls, two world wars, epidemics, and The Great Depression came and went. But inside, the Children’s Room in the library was …a place where children could meet other children and learn.” Another moving story is about a people’s movement in Egypt where Muslims, Christians, old, young, all came together to join hands literally to protect the library. The year was 2011 and the library was in Alexandria!
But even in the daily routine, the library can actively protect and care for the users and the material. No reader can be ridiculed or demeaned for what she reads or expresses. For example, a 12-year-old child in the library is a slow reader. He was interested in the South African race issues. He wished to do a presentation of a very simple picture book he had found and liked very much. This he did and even though the book was much below the reading level of his classmates, they listened to him with respect – another vital aspect of the library culture.
When students present book talks on difficult issues, they are more willing to engage in a conversation about the book. It happened once that a young girl talked about a book on marital discord and conflict in the home. She gave an excellent but dispassionate talk on the book. Later she was able to come to me and open up that she was facing the same situation in her life and we talked…
Free and open access – an autonomous space – a space of collective ownership
An open library is the right of every human being. The child in the school library can sense as well as actually experience this openness and trust from the librarian and from other children. Independent browsing, autonomy to read what one wishes, freedom to come and relax in the library and feel welcomed, are all crucial aspects of the space. One of the young users expressed it thus, “I love being greeted by wide open doors. And beyond that I see a bright, airy library space. I enter and check out the display of new books. Sometimes this display has a topical theme – at other times the theme may arise in my mind so I suggest it to the librarian and help her pull out the relevant books. The part I love best is when I am browsing. I call it “prowling” because I feel I can roam around and find all kinds of material; books, CDs and DVDs, maps, photo albums, projects done by my seniors, books made by me and my friends. That is great fun!”
The children in the library are advisors, a supportive team, and actively keep the culture alive. They revive books that need repair, they suggest solutions to knotty situations in the library, and alert us if we are going astray!
Space for conversation and dialogue where ideology that divides and breeds hatred can be challenged
The library’s response to free dialogue and discussions is an important indicator of the strength of a library. In this space, opinions can be expressed, challenged and reflected upon.
Prejudice, bias and entrenched dogma can emerge from a student or from an adult, and a larger gathering of peers can listen, examine and debate on it. When something comes out of hiding, it can be looked at more closely even by the hoarder! No theme is taboo, be it sexual, gender-related, class and caste engendered or religious in nature. We realize that even a young child can unconsciously imbibe certain ‘ideas’. A young child blurted out, “Pakistanis are our enemies”. The others looked at me. How was I going to react? Fortunately the library comes to our rescue! “Shall we listen to a story and then talk about this?” I picked up “Malala” and started to read. Soon they were all riveted and we could then open up a dialogue on people and their actions no matter where they come from. At the end of the period, the boy was muttering to his friends, “And she was a Pakistani?” Now more talking could happen!!
A space of truth and integrity
In the current context, is there a culture of ‘untruths’ that is ruling us? How can the library space be a sounding board for truth to reveal itself? One interesting exercise was done by a teacher-librarian for teenage students around Partition stories. Can there be more than one story? We were all awakened by the writer Chimamanda Adiche who warned us of “the danger of a single story”.
A compassionate space – a cooperative and collaborative space with no bias, no dogma
The final and most important, yet most intangible, is the space for compassion in the library. For me, it is the human face of the library. The true story of “Biblioburro” is read out to a rapt young audience who are visibly moved by the actions of one man to reach out to the poor children in far flung villages in Colombia. Many such local experiences are shared too, and as a result at least two children have started small libraries in their homes for government school children nearby. A small beginning, but a beginning nevertheless.
Compassion is how an excellent reader reaches out to a non-reader with no sense of inequality. It is when peers listen to another’s outpourings with care and concern. It is also when the physical space provides for quietness and reflection on one’s proclivities. Compassion is when the librarian relates to each and every user, responds with patience to each and every doubt and query, with care to each and every damaged book, with understanding for each and every child about her likes and dislikes in reading.
What about a culture of cooperation in the library? A good way to reiterate this is to convey that rules are not rigid. They come about by way of agreements on collaborative use of the library space.
It is vital for us to recognize that the human element in the library must be the heart and soul of the place. The collection, the space and the ambiance can bring about wonder and delight. The interactions and activities engender communication and communion and above all, frequent refreshment keeps the culture of the place alive and vibrant.
Without libraries what do we have? We have no past and no future.
– Ray Bradbury.
Isn’t that the death-knell of culture?
References
1. Miss Moore thought otherwise. Jan Pinborough.
2. The Librarian of Basra. Jeanette Winter.
3. Biblioburro. Jeanette Winter.
4. Bringing books and children together. The Croatian War experience. Ivanka Stricevic.
5. Hands across the Library. Karen Legget Abouraya and Susan Roth.
6. The Unicorn by Michael Morpurgo.
7. Chimamanda Adiche. “The danger of a single story”. TED talk available on YouTube
The author has been a school librarian for more than 30 years but age has not dimmed her passion for looking at the library as a radical space. She is currently a consultant for the Parag Initiative of Tata Trusts which has been working at bringing about active libraries all over India, holds online courses for library educators, and plays a key role in enriching children’s literature in India. She can be reached at usha.mukunda@gmail.com.
