Curriculum For Leadership Development

The Stream Of Life Charitable Society

Curriculum For Leadership Development

Leadership Development is a long-running program of The Stream Of Life Charitable Society that continues evolving as our understanding of, and engagement with, the communities we work in grows. The most important objective of the Leadership Development Program is community ownership. If there is a library in a community and the community does not have the ownership of that library, then there is little chance of that library being successful; but when the community has ownership in that library, then the chances of the library being successful increases greatly.

In the Leadership Development Program, we create opportunities for library members who have been coming to the library for a long time to recognize their leadership skills and improve them, run the library with the librarian, and express their thoughts and voices on different platforms and in the library.

The act of reading becomes an act of thinking, when one doesn't just register text on the page but is able to decode and extract meaningful ideas from it. Good readers use their first voice to fluently and easily decode text; they employ specific strategies to activate their 'Second Voice' — the voice responsible for meaning making. In community libraries the Second Voice is developed by providing easy access to thousands of books. But that alone is not sufficient. That is why The Stream Of Life Charitable Society has a robust Reading Project that supports and empowers readers — especially first-generation readers — in bridging the gap between text and meaning to truly embody 'Reading Is Thinking'.

The Reading Project

The Reading Project has brought about powerful shifts in our reading community. In the beginning, it was sustained by adult volunteers reading aloud to children of different age groups. Within 2-3 years, we had members of the Students Council trained to deliver read-alouds to younger children. Currently, we are seeing a new generation of 'read-alouders' who populate our libraries: older siblings reading to younger ones, friends reading aloud to each other, members spontaneously gathering a group around them to read a story. It has prompted us to update our motto from 'Reading Is Thinking' to 'Reading Together is Thinking Together'.

The Read Aloud program
Learning to Read
Headstart to Reading
Hindi Reading Fluency
English Reading Fluency

The circulation desk is a welcoming space that embodies pyaar se. It is a judgement-free zone where all are welcome to interact with library staff and library leaders, seek suggestions about books and gather information about library activities. This is where librarians learn the most about our members and their likes and dislikes. It’s a great place to build a new reader’s confidence as they grow stronger with every book. It is also a wonderful interface to encourage readers to try something different or get to the next level in their reading journeys.

We have an open-shelf policy, where members are free to walk in and pick a book of their choice from open shelves and boxes. Any member can read, browse and issue any book of their choosing (except reference books, which are for reading in the library only). Librarians can recommend but the choice is left to the member.

Circulation of Books

T he Stream Of Life Charitable Society libraries host an ever-growing membership in excess of 500 readers & thinkers.

Membership starts from 4 years and is organized into 4 groups :
Headstart-To-Reading (4-6 years)
Lower Group (7-11 years)
Upper Group (11-16 years)
Adults (16+ years)
Non-adult members can borrow 1 book each circulation day while adults can borrow 2 books. Non adult members can start borrowing 2 books on circulation days once they enter the 200 Book Club.

The librarian knows everything about her collection and catalogs; how to manage it, how to select new books and bring them into the library etc. But she has a role and responsibilities beyond this. She must know how to attract and welcome the community into the library and how to engage with members. Since we are free libraries, situated in localities where most members are first generation readers, it’s sometimes challenging to communicate what we do, why we are inviting them and their children to the library, and why reading for pleasure and thinking is as important as school education. Our librarian plays an important role in doing this work along with The Stream Of Life Charitable Society’s Student Council. This includes walking door-to-door and speaking to local residents about the library and its various programs.

The Stream Of Life Charitable Society India.

We have established a library project in The Stream Of Life Charitable Society . This initiative aims to improve literacy rates and educational opportunities for children and adults. The library offers a wide range of books, resources, and educational programs to empower the community with knowledge and lifelong learning opportunities.

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