Author: Torchlight Team

Reflecting on the theme for this edition, Libraries and Schools, the Torchlight editorial team felt that the act of listening (really listening) to the voices of primary users of the school library - its students - is a valuable part of library work. Now, we are delighted to share the experience of listening with you, through this audio piece which details the experiences of students from a government school in Delhi. The piece presents a range of reflections, responses and meanderings from interviews with students from classes 3 to 8, about their relationship with their school library and with library books. So settle into your seat and get your tiffin-box (and headphones) out, as you hear what Anisha, Yogit, Naved, Shivam, Sameer, Mayank, and Anshul have to say.   Interviews b...

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single school in possession of a library must censor its collection. Or so we suspected. Schools are inevitably ideologically charged institutions that represent precise social and historical concerns of their times, and function with their own frameworks of disciplining/ shaping the cultural understanding of their students. It follows that certain texts would be considered inflammatory, unsuitable, or too dangerous for students (children) to read... texts that could turn them mad, bad or wicked! Along with the educators and administrators of these educational institutions, parents, peers, and even children themselves may participate in the act of censorship. It also follows that young readers would be keen to access forbidden texts and and f...