International School Library Month

“Fairy Tales and Folk Tales around the World” was the theme for the international school library month (October 2021).   

Stories have been passed down many generations which teach us about human values and culture. Our MYP-1 students explored the culture of a Croatian school Grigor Vitez in Polijana, which is part of Slovenia in the northeast continental part of Croatia.

Our MYP-1 students participated in the ‘International Digital Bookmark Exchange’ project, where they designed bookmarks and interacted with the school students on a virtual meet. The focus of the design was, of course, fairy tales and folk tales around the world.

The excitement was at its peak when the students got connected virtually with each other. The Croatian students were eager to know about traditional Indian cuisine, music, clothes and drinks. A sense of globalization and connection struck when answers like ‘We Love KFC and McDonalds’ was heard, and which I think will pass on as the new tradition.

Nevertheless, the questions were very thought provoking and touched on every topic like their favorite subjects, favorite books and favorite genre.  Harry Potter was the most popular choice from both the countries. A very interesting fact that our students marveled at was that Croatian students physically attend school daily despite the fact that there are over 7000 covid cases a day in their country.  

We have received ‘excellent’ grading from the Croatian students for the virtual meet. Ms. Marina Piria, their librarian, sent us this feedback:

‘Pupils were overly excited after the meeting, they were so thrilled that kids listen to the same music. It is unusual for them to see so many different nationalities in one classroom, but a unique opportunity to grasp different environments, especially multicultural.”

I would like to thank the Language & Literature and ELA (English Language Acquisition) teachers to boost the interest of students in designing the bookmarks and preparing them for the virtual meet; without them it was not possible.

The medium of stories is an effective way of connecting with diverse cultures and nationalities worldwide.

Sunita Malekar, Librarian