What makes a library a safe and welcoming space, especially for children who are anxious, feel like they do not fit in, or are excluded by peers? Does this have to do with how librarians are trained and the kind of personalities they have? To what extent does the collection itself and the design of the physical space matter? What makes members of a library feel cared for?

The librarians on the jury for the recent Neev Book Awards offered much food for thought. Ann Lazim, a Neev Book Awards jury member who worked as a librarian at the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education in London for 29 years, before retiring in 2021, says, “My involvement with school and public libraries taught me that catering to different language and class backgrounds is critical. Children want to see themselves in the books that they read.”

Usha Mukunda, who has been a librarian for nearly 40 years, and is a founder-member of a school called Centre for Learning on the outskirts of Bengaluru, said, “Children must be made to feel a part of the place. Some of them are not excited about reading at first but they find the book shelves very helpful for playing hide and seek. This is their way of getting familiar with the library.” As long as they do not disturb others, she lets them be.

Getting to know library members’ likes and dislikes, displaying their artwork, taking them book shopping, getting younger children to stamp books that are being lent, and getting older ones to give a library tour to the younger ones, are some other ways to engage them, she added. She has also tweaked the Dewey Decimal Classification system — which professional librarians are trained to use — in order to “bring Kannada and Hindi books front and centre”.

This is an attempt to challenge the perception that other languages are inferior to English, and to introduce them to authors they are unaware of. She also encourages the support staff to read, and keeps them informed about new additions to the library that they might enjoy. One of her most innovative ideas to make the library a joyful space is the book hospital. Library members have the opportunity to help her mend books with tattered pages and torn covers.

Katie Day, another jury member, who heads the senior library at Tanglin Trust School in Singapore, spoke about the importance of resources and training. She said, “Our school has an ecosystem and the means to support children with medical conditions and disabilities.” The library staff is informed if a child’s medication is changed or if they are going through a challenging personal situation at home so that adults at school can be sensitive to their needs.

Their library has three different zones: one where visitors are guaranteed complete silence, another where people can speak at a low volume, and an interactive zone that also has a Lego table and a craft corner. This segregation based on noise levels makes room for diverse needs. Apart from this, the library also has a “neurodiversity shelf” and a “free to be me shelf”.

Neev Book Awards jury member Angela Erickson is the Head of Libraries at United World College of Southeast Asia in Singapore. She emphasized that the library is a place for everyone, including non-readers. She said, “It is okay to come to the library just for some quiet time, to sit by yourself, and be alone with your thoughts. Some people want to find companionable silence but have a hard time making friends, so I keep some card games.” These games become talking points since they find it challenging to talk about themselves.

For Erickson, creating a safe space takes various forms — from ensuring that the chairs are sturdy enough to support students’ backs to offering mindfulness apps to those who feel over-stimulated, from having books that embrace LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) identities to putting up quotes about inclusion and acceptance in different languages.

Erickson added, “The only trans employee in the organization works in the library, and this has catalysed a lot of learning for staff and students. Children have learnt to express curiosity in a way that is respectful, not judgemental. I hope everyone can feel at home in the library, even those who come from conservative families, so that we can celebrate differences.”

Neev Book Awards jury member Suji De Hart, who has been an elementary school librarian in the United States, China and Malaysia, and is now involving in building and supporting rural libraries in Indonesia and the Philippines, said, “Schools tend to celebrate extroverts who succeed in academics or athletics. There isn’t much space for the really quiet kids who love to read. I want them to not just feel safe but also shine. I feel protective of them.”

One of her favourite activities is to organize quizzes about books for them. She welcomes children who visit the library when they need down time or just want to sit and have lunch.

Karthika Gopalakrishnan, Head of Reading at Neev Academy, and Director of the Neev Literature Festival, has observed that children singled out by classmates also choose to spend their time in the library. She said, “This may be because the library gives them a space of quietude and escape, to immerse in a world of books, graphic novels, or manga that they find as a source of solace.” Students are drawn to the library as librarians are approachable and easy to talk to, and they take student requests into account while updating the collection.

Sujata Noronha, Founder Director of Bookworm, a Goa-based organization that runs community libraries and works with school libraries, was also present at the Neev Literature Festival. She said, “A library has the potential to be a sanctuary. We need to believe that everyone is deserving of a sanctuary and think about what is needed to create one.” She recalls interacting with hundreds of children from communities that are new to the idea of reading for pleasure. They are drawn not to books but libraries as physical and social spaces.

Bookworm has been running the Library Educator’s Course with support from Parag, an initiative of Tata Trusts. This course aims to train librarians not only to manage a library and maintain its collection but also “to ignite a friendship between children and books”.

What does this mean in concrete, everyday terms on the ground while working with children?

Noronha remarked, “There needs to be a balance between print and non-print activities. Something about print can be off-putting and overwhelming if there is no scaffolding.” While most of the books are in English, Konkani and Marathi, there is room for other languages too because children’s home languages include Odia, Bhojpuri, Bangla, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Hindi. Parent volunteers are invited to recite poems and sing songs in these languages.

Much of what Noronha has learnt comes from observing and listening to children. Reading a child’s energy is important, she said. “Adults often have this well-meaning urge to go and help, and then feel good about themselves. But sometimes, children want to be left alone and that is alright. One should not take it personally. One must step back instead of intervening.”

When more librarians in India adopt some of these best practices, more children will get a first-hard glimpse of what fiction writer, poet and translator Jorge Luis Borges must have meant when he said that “I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of a Library”.

Chintan Girish Modi is a Mumbai-based journalist who writes about books, art and culture. He can be reached @chintanwriting on Instagram and X.