The Boys' High School & College is one of the city's premier educational Institutions and is renowned for the quality of its teaching and innovation towards knowledge. With about 4,000 students to cater for, it is by far one of the oldest institutions in the city and has produced generations of leaders, nationally and internationally, in all areas of society and industry.
A school library is an integral part of a student's curriculum. Our Principal, Mr. C V Innes recognises and identifies reading as a critical skill that all students need to master, in order to be successful in life. Which is why our School Library continues to be an integral part of the School curriculum.
Some students enjoy reading and when they are sometimes questioned about their views about reading, many of them describe their feelings about reading as "stimulating and interesting", "relaxing", "rewarding and satisfying". I did not ever hear a student comment that they found reading "boring and dull". Some have owned up that their primarily motive for reading is "fun and pleasure", while others have gone as far as say that they read mostly to get "facts and information" for better awareness and, occasionally, for their projects. When it comes to specific reading interests, students' preferences reflect a rich and diverse set of topics. The majority prefer reading fiction, such as novels and stories, over non-fiction, such as biographies and history books.
However, a very marginal percentage of students have really let themselves inculcate this much-needed exercise. This is where our parents can help out. Parents have a great deal of influence over their children's reading habits. Most students comment that their parents do not encourage them to read books other than those that should be read for school work. This indicates that parental involvement for motivating their children to develop reading interest is important.
Our library is situated in the Middle School Section of our School, and has a seating capacity of approximately 70 students and caters to the needs of students form classes VI to X. Each class and section have a library period once a week, where they come and experience a brief respite from the stress of concentrating and listening to lectures on various academic subjects. During the week, class 11 and 12 have access to the Library, and many students take reference books for their different subjects. Magazines and periodicals on politics, sports, and world events are all available in the library, which help the students to expand their knowledge on current events. Books are lent to boys for home for a period of one week, for which they are issued a library card, on a yearly charge of a meager Rs. 20 per student for classes VI to X, and Rs 30 per student for classes XI and XII. Our Library also has a range of CDs on wild life, environment and cartoons which the students enjoy from time to time.
Our teachers too have access to the library free of cost and are allowed to use books for reference, ranging from encyclopedias to books on specilalised subjects and topics.
In conclusion, I would like to pay a tribute to the creativity and dedication of our School Principal who has a vision to take our school to even greater heights, and I know one day our School Library will be further equipped so as to take a leading role in helping students of the 21st century to quench their thirst for "knowledge" and "more knowledge". —J McGowan
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