ADINET e-News Digest

No. 18

March 2016

Top Skills for Tomorrows Librarians | Careers 2016

9 year old slum girl opened a library in Bhopal

How Education Technology Can Help Foster Social &

Emotional Skills

Century-old library finds it hard to continue with no fund

from BMC

4
5

Penguin to publish Disney books in India

Central Universities work, Temples of Knowledge and
Learning : President

How to Get Free (or Cheap) New E-books

21 awarded by govt for innovative business ideas : One
of the Idea related to the LIS Profession

MS University to archive Indian Classical Music

Indian Library Association wants government to give

impetus to public library system

Report | Museums, Libraries and Comprehensive

Initiatives: A First look at Emerging Experience

8
8

BAPASI hands over 400 books to jail library

Students Will Rise When Colleges Challenge Them to
Read Good Books

No.18

Sydney is Getting the Library of the Future

ADINET e-News Digest

March 2016

Page 1

Top Skills for Tomorrows

Librarians | Careers 2016
By Meredith Schwartz on March 9,
2016
LJ reached out to academic
and public library directors
and other thought leaders
nationwide to find out what
new skills they expect to need
in librarians in the next
20 years. The 11 listed below
emerged as the essentials.
Not complete departures,
rather they build on trends
already in evidence.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

Advocacy/ Politics
Collaboration
Communication/People Skills
Creativity/Innovation
Critical Thinking
Data Analysis
Flexibility
Leadership
Marketing
Project Management
Technological Expertise

Tomorrows Academic
Librarians
While many of the skills cited by
public librarians can generalize
across library types, at least to
some extent, academic library
leaders named some
requirements that are more
pressing, if not altogether unique
to the academic library.
Teachers
Bryn Geffert, librarian, Amherst
College, MA, says, We need
librarians who think of themselves
ADINET e-News Digest

No.18

first and foremost as teachers.

We need librarians who light up
classrooms, who need to be
around students, and who infect
those students with the joy of
research. Library schools cannot
catechize the passion required for
teaching, but their admissions
offices must select for this trait,
and they must then train the
already passionate how to teach.
E Link | Click Here
This 9 year old slum girl has
opened a library for children
in Bhopal and reads stories to
them daily! Muskaan Ahirwar
might be all of 9 years old but
the power she wields in her
tiny little hands can transform
lives and change society for
the better.
Its truly inspiring, what the
children of today can do. And it is
indeed a true saying that when
you educate a woman, you
educate an entire family. In this
case, educating a woman meant
not only educating the family but
her entire society as well! For at
the tender age when children are
still only busy in the playground,
this little one has opened her own
library and is a librarian to all the
children in her slum! The true
face of Padhega India to Badhega
India!
The idea of a library in the slum
area of Arera Hills was
conceptualised when the local
branch of the Rajya Siksha
Kendra (State Educational
Center) realised that they have a
slum right behind their office
March 2016

Page 2

where many children go to school

but do not really bother with
studies or reading once theyre
back. To create an interest among
the kids and get more of them
hooked, the members of the
Siksha Kendra conducted
competitions and held a quiz
competition among the kids. Little
Muskaan Ahirwar won the quiz
and was one of the most
enthusiastic participants the
Kendra members had met. They
asked her if she would like to
spread awareness about
education and reading among her
friends and Muskaan agreed.
Soon, her very first Bal
Pustakalay (Childrens Library)
was set up in the area with books
donated to the library by the
Rajya Siksha Kendra. Muskaan
took charge of her library and
learnt the ropes quite quickly.
She now rushes home from
school at 4 PM and immediately,
sets up her little Bal Pustakalay
outside her home on a mat.
Children of all age groups eagerly
wait for their librarian Muskaan
didi to set the library and then
queue up to borrow and read
their favourite books. Not only
does she manage the library, she
even holds reading sessions and
discussion sessions where she
reads out the stories to the little
kids or engages with them over a
discussion! And she does all this
along with her regular studies!
We play here, learn, hear and
read lot of books about freedom
fighters and great Indian kings
and many others, said a 3rd
standard student and member of
ADINET e-News Digest

No.18

the library, Palak Singh,

to TOI. Shes grabbed the ropes
quickly and manages to do even
the actual duties of a librarian like
caring for the books, keeping
track of whos borrowed what,
adding to her library, managing
the ledger, etc. Till date, a total of
119 books have been donated to
the library by the Shiksha Kendra
and the children have finished
reading all the books! Not only
that, Muskaan has ensured that
her studies are not affected and
constantly ranks the first in class!
Shes a true inspiration to all the
children of the library and a pride
for her parents who come from
humble backgrounds as a
carpenter and housewife. Shes
an inspiration for all of us too!
Kudos to the little girl for being a
true example of how just one
individual can change a society!
We are so proud of you little
Muskaan!
E Link | Click Here

How Education Technology

Can Help Foster Social and
Emotional Skills
To thrive in the 21st century,
students must be adept at
collaboration, communication,
and problem solvinga few of the
skills developed through social
and emotional learning (SEL).
Social and emotional skills can
strengthen the labor force, boost
academic performance, and
produce long-term benefits such
as higher rates of employment
and educational attainment.
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But a new global survey

conducted by The Boston
Consulting Group (BCG) found
that parents and educators have
a narrow understanding of SEL.
They view SEL primarily as a
means of achieving better
classroom discipline rather than
as a way of ensuring better
academic and economic outcomes
over the long term.
Education technology can help
address this and other key
barriers to fostering SEL while
complementing and extending
childrens learning experiences,
according to a new report by the
World Economic Forum titled New
Vision for Education: Fostering
Social and Emotional Learning
through Technology, written in
collaboration with BCG. Education
technology can personalize
learning, engage the disengaged,
complement what happens in the
classroom, extend education
outside the classroom, and
provide access to learning to
students who otherwise might not
have sufficient educational
opportunities.
The report finds that policy
makers, parents, educators, and
others seeking to use technology
to give children the social and
emotional skills they need can
pursue three critical
opportunities:
* Help parents, educators, and
others understand what really
boosts social and emotional
learning. On the basis of our
extensive research, we have
identified 55 product features
ADINET e-News Digest

No.18

(detailed in the report) that are

highly correlated with the ten
critical social and emotional skills
*
Embed SEL into products
that support
foundational
skills such as literacy and
numeracy, where 95% of
venture-capital investment dollars
have flowed since 2011.
*
Take advantage of recent
technological innovationssuch
as wearable devices, virtual
reality, and appsto foster SEL.

If stakeholders work together,

particularly at the all-important
stage of setting the policy
agenda, they can change
perceptions and behaviors about
SEL. Together, stakeholders can
establish enduring policies that
fully incorporate SEL into a childs
education and development.
Elink for Report
| https://www.bcgperspectives.com
/Images/How-EducationTechnology-Can-Foster-SocialEmotional-Skills-Mar-2016.pdf

Century-old library finds it

hard to continue with no fund
from BMC
The prestigious Mumbai Marathi
Granth Sangrahalaya (MMGS)
which will complete 118 years
on March 14 is struggling to run
the chain of libraries, in the
absence of financial aid from the
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corp,
alleged the education committee
of the civic body.
Of the 29 libraries run by the
organisation since 1965, it had to
March 2016

Page 4

shut 12 after the BMC stopped

financial aid. The matter was
discussed Tuesday during the
education committee meeting
when a proposal to increase the
aid of the existing 18 libraries
under the MMGS was put forth by
the civic body. The BMC, one of
the richest municipal
corporations, since 2008 gives the
MMGS a grant of Rs 27,000 per
library every year, which is
woefully inadequate said one of
the committee members during
the meeting.
According to the proposal put
forth before the committee
members Tuesday, the civic body
has proposed to increase the
grant to Rs 30,000 for libraries
having less than 50 members and
Rs 50,000 for libraries with more
members. The education
committee members however did
not approve the proposal.
About six years ago, the
organisation had to shut 12
libraries, most in the island city,
as the BMC stopped extending
financial assistance, citing low
readership. Today, the MMGS
runs 17 libraries in the city with
BMCs aid, and a few that it runs
on its own. As of March 31, 2014,
the MMGS had a total of 11,787
members but the figure stands at
4,549 as per Nov. 2015.
E Link | Click Here

Penguin to publish Disney

books in India

NEW DELHI: Disney's iconic

Mickey and Friends characters as
well as Aladdin, Peter Pan,
Pinocchio, Dumbo and the cast of
"Jungle Book" will now be
published in the country by
Penguin Random House, which on
Tuesday announced the launch
with Disney India's consumer
products business.
Published under the Puffin imprint
and aimed at young readers, the
fully-illustrated books will include
readers, storybooks, colouring
and activity as well as novelty
books. The first series of titles is
set to be available to consumers
from March 14, publishers said.
"Puffin India has long published
some of India's finest writing for
children with generations brought
up on books from authors
including Ruskin Bond, Sudha
Murty and APJ Abdul Kalam. We
are delighted to now be working
with Disney India to bring their
well-loved characters to readers
with a specific range of Indian
publishing," Gaurav Shrinagesh,
CEO, Penguin Random House in
India said."Disney is synonymous
with storytelling. We all have
grown up reading Disney stories
and are familiar with Disney
characters. We are happy to be
working with Puffin India to
launch a series of Disney books
for the new generation of readers
in the country," Abhishek
Maheshwari, VP & head,
consumer products, Disney India
said.
E Link | Click Here

ADINET e-News Digest

No.18

March 2016

Page 5

Central Universities should

work towards becoming
Temples of Knowledge and
Learning, says President
The Third day of the Festival of
Innovation in Rashtrapati Bhavan
concluded with presentation of
Visitors Awards for the year 2016
by President Pranab Mukherjee at
a function held at Rashtrapati
Bhavan yesterday (March 14,
2016).
The President presented Visitors
Award for the Best University to
Tezpur University and Visitors
Awards for Research as well as
Innovation to Prof. Rakesh
Bhatnagar and the Molecular
Parasitology Group of JNU
respectively in the presence of
Union Minister for Human
Resource Development, Vice
Chancellors of various universities
and other dignitaries.
E Link | Click Here
How to Get Free (or Cheap)
New E-books
The ebook pricing wars are (in
theory) over, but who won?
Probably not the consumers, who
expected lower prices or a magic
price point of $9.99. The Wall
Street Journal last fall found that
ebook sales dipped after
publishers hashed out a deal that
let them avoid ebook discounts on
sites like Amazon.
We're here to help you, the
readers. Maybe not the readers
who think $2.99 or even 99 cents
is too much for a book. They need
ADINET e-News Digest

No.18

a stern lecture about how costs

are not simply about digital
distributionthere are editors and
artists and authors who need to
be paid to keep this whole
literature thing going. However,
we do want readers to read, even
the latest from the big-name
publishing houses. There are
plenty of new, modern ebooks out
there available for free or damn
close. Here are some options to
try, from subscription services to
a method that's as old as the
book itself: libraries.
Full Access | Click Here
===================
21 awarded by govt for
innovative business ideas :
One of the Idea related to the
LIS Profession
Archita Lahiri, a 24-year-old HR
professional, has developed a
business plan to set up an
organized market for old book
sellers of the state. "I have plans
to set up a digital library and
create a web portal and ecommerce site for old book
sellers, who have a huge
collection of books on different
subjects," said Lahiri. "The award
will definitely provide a
motivation to go ahead with my
plans," she added.
E Link | Click Here

MS University to archive
Indian Classical Music
Vadodara: MS University's Faculty
of Performing Arts is mulling to
March 2016

Page 6

develop an online archive of

classical music to mark 130 years
of its inception.

select libraries as partners in the

digitisation of knowledge and
heritage.

As part of the celebrations,

renowned classical artists from
across India will be performing for
two days from March 13. Fund
raised through this event will help
in digital compilation of Indian
classical music. The process of
retrieval will begin from the next
academic year.

This was one of the

recommendations made during
the three-day international
conference on sustaining
excellence, transforming libraries
through technology, innovation
and value added services in the
'Google era', held in Rajkot, ILA
president Prof Ashu Shokeen
said. ..

"The faculty has a collection of

recordings as old as 100 years.
The sum attained through the
event will be utilized to digitize
the collection of classical music.
The faculty intends to host a
series of performances,
workshops, discussions and
camps by inviting renowned
artists and scholars from the field
of performing arts. These lectures
and conferences would then be
preserved by us in the form of
digital library"
Curtains will fall on Mach 14 with
the performances of Hindustani
classical musician Manjusha Patil,
flutist Ronu Majumdar and
violinist Pandit Atul Upadhe.

More Information | Click Here

E Link | Click Here

Indian Library Association

wants government to give
impetus to public library
system

Sydney is Getting the Library

of the Future
The city of Sydney is setting up a
new library inside a building that
looks, depending on who you ask,
like a stack of plates, a spaceship
taking off, or a cyborg hairdo. The
library will occupy two floors, and
will house a lot more than just
books.
There are a lot of gorgeous
libraries in the world, and in
2018, it looks like there will be
one more. The city of Sydney is
leasing two floors of a building to
go up in Darling Harbor. The
building is designed by Kengo
Kuma, a Japanese architect, and
the city is leasing the space for up
to 99 years from the developer
Lendlease.
More Information | Click Here

VADODARA: The Indian Library

Association would approach
Centre seeking thrust on the
public library system under
'Digital India' mission and to
ADINET e-News Digest

No.18

March 2016

Page 7

Report | Museums, Libraries

and Comprehensive
Initiatives: A First look at
Emerging Experience
A new national research
report reveals the catalytic role
that libraries and museums are
playing in rebuilding troubled
neighborhoods. These important
"anchor institutions" are helping
drive economic, educational, and
social efforts to raise the standard
of living in their surrounding
neighborhoods.
Published by the Institute of
Museum and Library Services
(IMLS) and the Local Initiatives
Support Corporation (LISC), the
research was recently shared at a
meeting of Twin Cities community
developers and museum and
library professionals. The report
captures the ways museums and
libraries are leveraging their
positions and resources to help
fuel successful comprehensive
community revitalization. It also
offers best practice advice for
other institutions.
BAPASI hands over 400 books
to jail library
Prisoners allowed to a keep a
book for a maximum of one
week
The jail library functioning inside
the sprawling Central Prison
premises here has been equipped
with more books in its shelves.
The Booksellers and Publishers
Association of South India
(BAPASI) has sponsored a little
ADINET e-News Digest

over 400 books to the Central

Prison library for the benefit of
the book-loving inmates.
The books supplied by the
BAPASI, which organised the
first-ever book fair in Tiruchi, is of
diverse titles and topics. This is a
goodwill gesture on the part of
the booksellers and publishers for
the benefit of the inmates, say
prison authorities.
Functioning in the second block
inside the huge Central Prison
premises, the jail library has
nearly 2,000 books on varied
titles at present. Prisoners are
given access to the library and
allowed to read books inside the
library as well as to take them to
their respective cells for reading
them patiently, a senior official
said.
Prisoners are allowed to keep the
books for a maximum of one
week by the library, which has
been functioning for several years
now. The jail library functions
from morning to afternoon.
The library helps inmates get over
negative thoughts by reading
books, the official added. The
Central Prison houses over 1,300
prisoners, including 700 convicts.
E Link
| http://www.thehindu.com/news/
cities/Tiruchirapalli/bapasi-handsover-400-books-to-jaillibrary/article8354202.ece

Students Will Rise When

Colleges Challenge Them to
Read Good Books
"Plan for the students you
actually have, not those you wish

No.18

March 2016

Page 8

you had, or think you used to

have, or think you used to be
like."
So John N. Gardner, the creator
of the term "first-year
experience," advised college
officials charged with making sure
that the experience is a good one.
In other words, be realistic; dont
expect too much of students.
That mind-set contrasts with the
one evoked by the New
Yorker writer David Denby in his
new book, Lit Up: One Reporter.
Three Schools. Twenty-Four
Books That Can Change
Lives. The New York Times last
week noted, "Lit Up is a
refreshing lesson in what
motivates students and why not
to dumb down reading lists."
Denby opens a window into the
classrooms of several gifted highschool English teachers who
assign Faulkner, Orwell, Frankl,
Dostoevsky, Hemingway,
Shakespeare, Poe, and Twain
and whose love of reading is
contagious to their teen students.
So which attitude prevails in
college today? The evidence
points to the former: resignation
and low expectations.
One proof is in the books colleges
assign as "common reading" to
first-year students over the
summer. For the last six years,
the National Association of
Scholars has tracked these
assignments and noted
patterns. Our annual
report, "Beach Books: What Do
Colleges and Universities Want
ADINET e-News Digest

No.18

Students to Read Outside Class?,"

documents that colleges typically
assign recent, easy books. Very
few choose anything challenging.
This year, 91 percent of the books
were younger than the 18-yearold students themselves.
Most faculty and administrators
who coordinate common-reading
programs say their goal isnt to
nurture a love of great literature.
As Cheryl Spector, of California
State University-Northridge, put
it, coordinators "never intended
to be arbiters or guardians of high
culture." Instead, they just want
students to read something.
Coordinators also want students
to read the same thing so that
they have some kind of
intellectual experience in common
and not just common knowledge
of Snapchat and the Kardashians.
Because core curricula have all
but disappeared, many colleges
and universities want to fill the
gap that remains.
Coordinators of common-reading
programs are handed the
impossible task of compensating
for the loss of both curricular
structure and good reading
habits. Common-reading
programs are a Band-Aid, but a
Band-Aid is better than nothing.
The books arent necessarily bad
the most popular ones this
year are The Other Wes
Moore, by Wes Moore, and Just
Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson. But
they tend to be surprisingly
nondiverse; most conform to the
mold of inspirational memoir.
The author Marilynne
Robinson wrote about what we
March 2016

Page 9

lose when we underestimate our

readers:
The choices many colleges make
impoverish their students. We can
do better; heres how:
Treat students as adults. That
means picking books that
summon adult intelligence and
that will give the students
something of lasting value. So
many very good books bid for
their attention, but the students
who have not yet entered the
great conversation between
writers and readers often need
help with taking the first steps. To
choose good books, consult with
people who read widely and well
and are intimately familiar with
good books. Set the goal of
finding books that are beautifully
written, enduringly important,
and true to human nature.
Reduce the size of selection
committees. A few deeply read
individuals much traveled in the
realms of gold will arrive at better
judgments than a general
assembly.
Consult the experts. Look at
resources such as Bents
Readers Encyclopedia, theModern
Librarys list of top 100 novels
and nonfiction, and the New York
Review Books Classics, which
specializes in reviving unjustly
neglected works. The National
Association of Scholars
publishes its own list of 80
books that might be suitable.
Show students why good
books are worth reading.
Cultivate a spirit of intellectual
ADINET e-News Digest

No.18

adventure. Introduce students to

some aspects of "high culture,"
and dont worry so much about
meeting students where they are
now. The reason people go to
college instead of staying home
and reading what they already
know they like is to have their
minds furnished by those who
know more than they do. Be
unapologetic in challenging
students and expecting them to
rise to those challenges.
Last and hardest: Choose
students who are amenable to
reading a challenging book for
pleasure. If a college works to
inspire students to meet higher
standards, but most of the
students still cant keep up, there
is something wrong with the
admissions requirements. Bring
them into alignment with the
academic standards, and always
seek to raise the bar, not lower it.
In short, plan for the students
you wish you had.
E Link | Click Here
Inputs for this entire issue have
been provided by Mr. Prahlad
Jadhav, Senior Librarian,
Khaitan & Co.

Forthcoming Seminar:
Integrated Academy of Management and
Technology (INMANTEC), Ghaziabad is
going to organize a One Day National
Workshop on Total Quality Librarian" for
Library & Information Professionals on
April 18 , 2016.
Contact : Dr. Rajesh Kumar for more
details.
Mob:+91-9899806543,
+91-7428412031,
Email: librarian@inmantec.edu,
rajesh.kumar@inmantec.edu

March 2016

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