Written by Bhavna Faizullabhoy, LEC 2020
I still cannot believe that it has been a week since I returned from Goa, having completed a course in Library Education from Bookworm Trust Goa. Reading and books have always been an integral part of my existence and have shaped who I am. Sometime in 2019, I had an ’A ha!’ moment where I realized that I can actually work in the space of libraries and work towards nurturing a love of reading in children.
It all started with a workshop on reading that I was a part of at Ummeed Child Development Center, where I used to work as part of the communications team. We were put into groups and I volunteered to read aloud a book called “The Rabbit Listened” to my group. I was overcome with tears while reading the book, as I connected deeply to the story and found the emotions just spilling out. Immediately after the workshop I wanted to find out more about where this magic happens, leading me to Bookworm and the Library Educator’s Course (LEC) they conduct each year.
I applied with the thought that this was something I had to do for myself, I had to explore my passion and see where it leads me. I was blessed to have the support and encouragement of my family and friends and I went for it! At the application stage I was warned about how much work and time will be required to complete the course and I committed to it wholeheartedly telling myself, if not now then when?
We were supposed to start the course in April 2020, with a week in Goa followed by two other ‘contact’ periods, but COVID-19 happened and changed the trajectory of the course. Bookworm was committed to all of us and determined to realize the course despite the circumstances. They worked tirelessly to create an online model which had never been done before, concluding with a contact period in Goa.
Starting in August 2020, classes were held over the weekend with great intensity in the first few months, reducing towards the end of the year. There are not enough adjectives to describe the sessions and how they tried to bring us all the experiences of being in a physical library and learning space into our homes. In my little room, I was transported to not just one library, but with the stories and experiences of my co-travellers, faculty and mentors, to every single library in every corner of the world, where a library educator is making a difference and helping a child read!
On Zoom we interacted with one another, shared our journal entries, listened to Book Talks and Read Alouds, discovered and read diverse books from the virtual library, created library cards, and participated in a reading carnival. We were visited by authors, alumni, children and a plethora of stakeholders connected to the library. This was nothing but magic.
The coursework was heavy to be polite, and a relentless flow of assignments and academic reading and discussions, and there were moments of despair and worry about getting through it. There were some areas that I felt could have been different, but given this was the first time for all, I felt that there was so much love and good intention that it was important to let those go.
For me, LEC was my way of finding my voice and my place in the world, especially during the pandemic and all the stressors it brought about. While in other aspects of my life I tried to be quieter, in the library my voice grew stronger, and was heard.
My mind came alive with the books, ideas, questions and rich conversations. I doodled endlessly discovering how deep I was going into thoughts and ideas. I started to dream again and fervently hoped I would end up in Goa in January for the contact period.
The dream came true on January 18 when I walked into Bookworm in Goa and met the LEC family. Some of us were in tears, I had a lump in my throat the size of a golf ball, all of us talking and laughing and marvelling at our physical meeting. We knew each other well but not so well, which is the irony of interacting online. During this week we met the Bookworm team including the members who work tirelessly behind the frontlines overseeing logistics, administration and finance. Each member cared for us in a way a loving family would, packing in every experience that they felt we missed out on during the online sessions in this one week. So with long tiring days, we ate together, read together, discussed books, and played together in Panjim’s wonderful parks, beaches and mangroves and just came alive! The entire experience felt like being part of a safe, nurturing eco-system.
What joy is there to be found in the company of one’s tribe! Am sure for so many of us our realities and lives were truly so far away for those precious seven days.
The week ended on a high note with a pop-up library at Panjim’s Garcia de Orta garden, where four groups put together a pop up library with a theme. Looking at each of our magical libraries, with themes such as Birds, BookJoy, Home and Farm to Table, all decorated using the natural elements from the park and a few supplies, it was so clear that…
The library is not a physical place, or a group of people, or owned by an individual or a group. The library is an idea and a dream, brought to life and owned by all those who experience it.
My hope and dream is to be able to help many experience this idea – the library. 
