THE MADINAGUDA PROJECT

END TO END LIBRARY SET UP

Report Author: Dhanya TA, High school student, Chennai

During the beginning of the year 2023, Joy of Reading (JoR), India was approached by the Telangana Social Impact Group (T-Sig) in Jan 2023, to draft a budget proposal for establishing a comprehensive physical library in a government school given a space. CASPIAN foundation as part of their CSR Efforts liked the proposal of sponsoring a library. Subsequently, Caspian Foundation got in touch with Harini from JoR India, and wanted to check out a few previous projects undertaken by JoR. Ms. Mohini, Sr. Manager from CASPIAN checked out the library at Telangana State Welfare Residential Schools in Narsingi,  and was impressed at the beautiful and simple setup that motivated children to attend the library. The company decided to sponsor an end to end physical library setup.

MPUPS school at Madinaguda was selected after thorough scouting. The principal, Mr Syed Yousuf, was brimming with enthusiasm and was eagerly awaiting the establishment of a library for his children and extended full support and cooperation. With approximately 400 students ranging from grades 1 to 8, the upper primary school possessed a spacious room ideal for a library. Funding was secured in mid-March 2023, and the JoR team diligently started the work targeting  to complete the library before the onset of summer vacation in April 2024.

The room required refurbishment, including repairing broken windows, painting, and thorough cleaning. Several volunteers contributed to the effort in transforming the given space to a beautiful room. A high school student Mrinalini helped with the design of the wall art, and another volunteer by the name of Apurva helped with designing the layout of the interior. The walls were painted with simple beautiful art work to make it into an appealing room for the children to spend time. Colourful furniture and furnishings were procured to create an inviting environment.

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Books across various levels, both in English and Telugu languages were procured. A total of 700 books across the GROW BY levels as well as Information books and Encyclopaedia’s (including 8 educational charts) were provided. The books were sorted and labelled according to the GROW BY Levelling system of Hippocampus Foundation and were arranged neatly in shelves

On April 24th a grand inauguration of the library was set up coinciding with the last day of the school. The grand opening saw the presence of many respected individuals, including the District Educational Officer Sri P. SUSEENDRA RAO, Ms. Archana Suresh, Director of CSR, Telangana Social Impact Group, Sri Prasad and Smt Shilpa founders  of the Caspian Foundation, the Mandal Education Officer, amongst others. Joy of Reading team with its volunteers conducted a grand opening ceremony inviting everyone from the school, volunteers and their families and the parents of children.

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During the Academic Year

Summer vacation ended and the new academic year started in June. JoR did not stop with just creating the library, but worked towards supporting the school to conduct the library hours. As a  first step, JoR conducted the ‘Inculcating Joyful Reading ‘ training at the school for all the teachers. Due to the absence of a dedicated librarian,  the Joy of Reading team helped with the initial library hours. At this time Smruthi Giri, who interned with JoR along with the JoR India volunteers helped with conducting Interactive Read aloud sessions and  reading level assessments for students in grades 4 to 7 during the months of June and July. In order to support the library, CASPIAN foundation agreed to fund a dedicated librarian for the school. Ms.Vani Gajibanda was hired as the librarian and commenced duties in August 2023.

Librarian Vani Gajibanda joined the school starting Aug 7th, 2023 and underwent the Inculcating Joyful Reading training program . Neha, Program Manager, JoR India mentored her throughout the year. Vani’s duties included:

1. Maintaining the library
2. Maintaining Registers
3. Conducting the structured library hour
4. Conducting library activities and Interactive read aloud sessions
5. Coordinating volunteer activities. 

What is Interactive Read Aloud: It is a read aloud session for similar levelled children which involves interaction with children by getting their inputs with respect to understanding the story, prediction of the story, discussing on why certain things occur. This helps with developing critical thinking, understanding how to read a book and comprehend, along with the improvement of reading skills.

Library periods were incorporated into the school’s daily schedule, with one hour dedicated to library activities for each class. JoR volunteers , volunteered once a week and conducted Interactive Read Aloud sessions and helped  struggling readers. Ms.Jenny Snehalatha devised a curriculum, focusing on phonetics and tailored approaches to improve reading proficiency. Since children’s reading abilities can differ irrespective of their grade level, this curriculum aims to enhance their reading skills by providing diverse learning opportunities and nurturing their creativity.

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With a six-day school week and 6 library hours a week, JoR volunteers and the librarian collaborated to ensure comprehensive coverage. The JoR team taught reading concepts formally during their volunteer hour. The librarian reinforced by repeating the reading concepts present in the curriculum again for two classes. The rest of the three classes for the week was allocated for structured library hour. Various activities were employed to enhance English fluency and reading skills amongst the students.

A structured library hour involves the children taking books according to their reading level, doing focussed reading for a designated period of time and doing a small post reading activity once they finish reading their book. The librarian helps by going around and answering questions from the children.

A few employees from CASPIAN visited the school to volunteer conducting reading sessions with the children now and then.

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One of the JoR’s goal was to engage the corporate community to contribute their time and interact with children. The goal was to help with the mentorship of the children through the interaction with professionals. JoR encouraged the employees of CASPIAN to come volunteer @ the Madinaguda school whenever they had time. The idea was to create an impact in shaping the lives of children in the long run over a few years of time .

The Madinaguda Transformation

Are you curious to know the outcome with all of these efforts? Then read on. Two reading level assessments were conducted – one at the beginning and one towards the end of academic year to understand the progress.

Understanding the levels : The levels are Green, Red, Orange, White, Blue, Yellow known as GROW BY leveling system from Hippocampus Foundation. Green is the lowest level (a picture book with 1 or two sentences per page) and Yellow is the highest level (novels). A student who is unable to read sentences, words or alphabets is called a struggling reader/beginner.

The graphs depict the distribution of classes along the x-axis, with the corresponding percentage of students at each level represented on the y-axis.

Reading Level Assessment 1

OBSERVATIONS

1. The first reading level assessment took place in July/Aug 2023
2. In the first assessment 50%+ of children in every class were struggling readers.
3. The rest of the children were only in the Green or Red level for the most part in all classes.

Reading Level Assessment 2

OBSERVATIONS

• The second assessment of reading proficiency took place in March 2024.
• Significant Reduction in struggling readers across all classes was seen.
• And few children had also moved up levels to Orange, White and Blue.

Reading level improvement

OBSERVATIONS

1)  4^th – 59% went up a level or more. Struggling readers reduced from  47% to 27%
2) 5^th – 38% went up a level or more. Struggling readers reduced from 67% to 18%
3) 6^th – 73% went up a level or more. Struggling readers reduced from 63% to 6%
4) 7^th – 74% went up a level or more. Struggling readers reduced from 87% to 23%

When the journey began, some students faced challenges in alphabet recognition and word reading. The remarkable decrease in struggling readers across all classes can be attributed to the implementation of various strategies including reading level assessments, structured library sessions, a basic English curriculum, and personalized assistance for struggling readers. Notably, 6th and 7th graders demonstrated accelerated progress, with a higher percentage advancing by at least one reading level. This underscores the effectiveness of systematic reading initiatives and tailored support for struggling readers.

Here are the detailed reports for the Madinaguda school project

1. August 2023 report
2. SEpt Oct Nov 2023 Report
3. Dec 2023, Jan & Feb 2024 Report

Madinaguda anniversary event:

In commemoration of the triumphant impact of the comprehensive library program in instilling a love for reading among the young learners, the Madinaguda anniversary event unfolded with grandeur. The occasion was adorned with an array of enriching activities, including captivating story narrations, creative story writing sessions, and an engaging general knowledge quiz centered around the literary treasures the students had delved into throughout the year.

What truly marked the event was the transformative impact it had on the children. Those who once shied away from public speaking now eagerly took to the stage, pouring their hearts out in a captivating skit performed entirely in English. Despite grappling with occasional mistakes, their earnest efforts shone through, resulting in a spellbinding performance. The sheer zest and fervor with which they participated left the JoR team awestruck and brimming with pride. Witnessing the students radiant performances and wholehearted involvement filled everyone with an overwhelming sense of elation and contentment.

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Anniversary event and prize distribution at madinaguda

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Finally the heartwarming words from Sailaja Nistala a long time JoR volunteer, sums up every volunteer’s feeling