Bookworm Library is a quaint “ half house” library and is situated on my way to the University. I always used to see it from outside but I had never entered it ever. One day I got an opportunity to visit the library because of my journalism assignment. When I entered the library, it had a very lively environment unlike other libraries that I have visited, where we are constantly monitored by the librarian and told to be quiet. This library and it’s environment was a surprise for me. At that time I was completely unaware of any of Bookworm’s program. And I had never thought that I would work in Bookworm.
It was time to look for job opportunities after my final exams. While most of my classmates were already working in publication houses, elsewhere or going for further studies, I had not come across any job vacancy yet that excited me. I had gone with my friend to her native place during the summer vacations and once when we were boating and busy admiring the blissful surroundings, a notification popped up on my friend’s phone. It was a Whatsapp message – somebody had posted a job vacancy from Bookworm in our University group. We read it and realised that Bookworm was hiring people. I thought, “Why not give it a try?” and after coming back from my trip immediately mailed my CV to the organization. After about 2-3 days I received a message from Deepali (DC) saying she had received my CV and would like to meet me. I was a bit nervous but DC helped me stay calm and the interview went well. After a week or so, I got a call from DC saying that they would like to hire me. And that’s how my journey started in Bookworm.
It is said that “your first job after college is unique, you have spent years training for it, yet you have no experience”. I was completely a fresher, unaware of any working environment. I looked at my colleagues who were busy doing their work and was a bit apprehensive and excited too. I was asked to come for a week-long trial period to see if that was what I wanted to do. I was given work in the library, sent to Mobile Outreach Program (MOP) sites, LiS (Libraries in Schools) schools as an Assistant/observer. I was involved in the preparation for school sessions, MOP preparations, learned so many new things such as making name lists, book tags, name tags mending and covering books and in general trying to complete my tasks on time.
When I decided that I wanted to continue, I was sent to schools for the actual exposure. It was my very first time assisting in the schools and I was very nervous; I was lucky enough to have team members to guide and support me. My tasks included returning of books lent to children and lending of new books in classes along with various other assistant duties. Needless to say, that at first I was confused but as time passed by, I got the hang of it.
Apart from going to schools, I am also slowly becoming a part of the Bookworm team and learning so much every day. These two months have been a roller-coaster ride with many ups and downs. Everything that I do, everything that I hear, every discussion that I take part in, every book that I read, I learn something new.
varun
awesome blog