Story Circle Fridays: A Classroom Library Built by Students

When I joined the school, the library was a locked cupboard. We started with 40 donated books and a simple rule: the students run it.

Each class elected two librarians who maintain the register, repair books with cello tape and recommend titles. On Fridays, the last period is a story circle: one student reads aloud, we discuss, and everyone writes a one-line review on a sticky note that goes on the back cover.

The reviews became a reading trail. Children pick books because "Pooja said it was scary". Reading levels across Class 6 and 7 improved noticeably, but the bigger change is that children now argue about books.

We now have 460 books, half of them in Gujarati, and a monthly "book of the month" vote with a hand-made trophy.