So You Want to Build a School Library? Part I

These next few posts will all be a part of a series entitled So You Want to Build a School Library? which will lead you through how and why I decided to make my school library my main focus (outside of my actual classes). Today's post will focus on the why -- the origin story of this project, if you will. Enjoy! 

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Step 1: Is this Necessary? or, the Reawakening of my Inner Die-Hard Nerd

My first week in Dibi, I visited the Proviseur’s office, to discuss the usual — who I am, where I’m from, what I’m doing here in Cameroon, etc., etc. At the end of our brief chit chat, I asked him if there was anything he would like me to focus on in Dibi, and he said the library. That was it — the library. 

This was a very broad topic. 

When I arrived in Dibi, the library was underused, understocked, and under-cleaned (which I realise isn’t a word, but I was on a roll with the under- words). The ceiling was infested with bats and wasps, there were spiderwebs everywhere, and the floor was coated with dust and bat poop at least an inch thick. It clearly didn’t get a lot of use. There was one librarian, Madame Pelnda, but her schedule was so full with her regular classes that she just didn’t have much time to work in the library. She had a list of all of the books that were theoretically in the library, and she was in the process of marking off which ones were there and which were missing. She said that once the current books were all accounted for, she would like to go about getting more books. 

Well, ok. I started spending time in the library checking off books, but to be honest, the process was tedious and time-consuming, and I couldn’t help but think there had to be a better way of accounting for the books rather than picking up a book and spending 1-5 minutes flipping through pages, trying to find a corresponding title to mark off. I spent some time organising the library as best I could, but then, I’m ashamed to admit, I got caught up with classes and other things, and I didn’t spend much time with the books. 

Then DEAR Day came around, which I’ve already posted about; and then book reports. This was the turning point, for me. 

Not even the book reports themselves, actually, although they helped. Seeing these kids get really invested in their reports — maybe it was because they wanted to get a good grade. Always possible. But I had students working with me after class, showing up at my house for extra help — this was something more than I had seen for any other projects. Most of them chose picture books or comic books— Ms. Marvel was HUGELY popular, and there were a few classics like The Berenstain Bears and Animorphs. I had them write their opinions of the book in the last paragraph, which yielded a wide range of results, from the insightful to the hilarious (from “I really liked Ms. Marvel because the main character was a girl who is Muslim”, “This book is interesting. She is intelligent and strong” and “I liked it because Ms. Marvel helped her friend Wolverine” to “I did not like this book because it is fiction, and I only like books which are about true things” and “I did not like this book because the elephant ruined the classroom, and now the students cannot go to school”). While they wrote their own book reports, I wrote my own on poster paper to give them an example of what I was looking for. At the very end, as a reward for all of their hard work, I cooked up some popcorn and I screened the movie version of my book report book: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. 

Now, for those of you who maybe don’t know me well, or didn’t know me in elementary and middle school, let me give you a bit of background of my history with Harry Potter. 

I have read the Harry Potter books probably over 50 times each. I know my Hogwarts house (Hufflepuff), I’ve made potions on Pottermore, I’ve aced every online Harry Potter quiz I can find. I’ve been to Harry Potter world and I own a Hufflepuff sweater. I even have a Harry Potter tattoo. Suffice to say, I’m pretty “into” Harry Potter. 

But, as with many fans, while we will always love Harry Potter and Star Wars and Star Trek and Lord of the Rings, we only ever get one chance to read or watch the series we love for the first time. And we only once read them for a second time. A third time, A tenth time. By the twentieth time you see a movie or read a book, the way you take it in has changed. There’s a settled, comfortable feeling to it. You can quote all of the lines, you’ve spotted all of the errors — maybe you put it on as background noise while you’re grading papers (or writing them), or you marathon it over the summer when you’re feeling nostalgic and have nothing else to do. It will always be special, of course — aren’t worn books always the best kind? — but it loses some of its sparkle. It’s not shiny and new and exciting anymore. 

So how do you bring something back? How do you make it new when it’s been old for years? As some of you with children may already know, it’s simple — you share it with someone who has never seen it before. 

Getting back to the movie, then. Before beginning the movie, we had a brief review of fiction vs. non-fiction. There is a widespread belief in magic and sorcellerie here, and I didn’t want to be kicked out of the community for encouraging sorcellerie. We established that the movie is very much fiction, and then the real magic began (I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I couldn’t help it). 

My students were hooked from the very start. On a normal day, it is practically impossible to get them to stay completely quiet and focused for even two minutes — but on that day, students who are usually chatty and disruptive flapped their hands and hissed at anyone who dared to interrupt the movie. Some of my more ambitious students asked for clarification of vocabulary. Some questions (“Madame, what is ‘thanks’?” “It means ‘thank you,’ it’s just shorter.”) were easier than others (“Madame, what does ‘bloody’ mean?” “Uh…it’s like ‘very’. ‘Very brilliant.’”) They didn’t always take my word for things (“Madame, what are those?” “They’re called goblins. They work at the bank.” “But they’re not real?” “Well, goblins aren’t, but they are played by real people.” “Madame, no they aren’t.” “Yes, they are! Real people wearing makeup.” “But madame, they are so small! Madame, you are sure those are real people? No, madame. They must be children.” “I am really very sure they are fully-grown adult people.”)

But the best part was watching their reactions. One girl cried out (walaay!) when the snake escaped its cage. They pointed and whispered at the owls flittering around Number 4, and Dudley’s tail was as hilarious to them as it was horrifying. The two girls in the front row clutched each others’ arms as Harry, Ron and Hermione fought the mountain troll, just as I remember clutching onto my mother during the same scene when I was younger. They whispered about the patourou professor (patourou meaning cat in Fulfulde), and held their breath during the Quidditch match, gasping out loud when Harry nearly falls off of his bucking broomstick. There were cries of shock when Quirrell revealed Voldemort on the back of his head, and laughs of triumph when Gryffindor won the House Cup. 

I realise this is starting to feel very long and tangential, so I’ll try to wrap it up. In showing this movie I was able, through my students, to see Harry Potter through a fresh pair of eyes. No longer was it just another movie I’ve seen dozens of times, a story I could tell in my sleep. Watching my students watch Harry Potter reminded me of why I have three stars tattooed on my wrist, why I still turn to this familiar favourite when I’ve had a really bad week. why I fell in love with a series about a bespectacled young wizard all those years ago. It reminded me how books can capture your imagination, can inspire and encourage passion and kindness and tolerance. And these are things that I believe everyone has a right to, and everyone should have access to. Books change lives. Words can change the world. The world is set out before these students to light aflame — books are the spark that lights the fire.