P. N. Panicker, the Father of Library and Literacy Movement in Kerala is an eminent personality, who was the pillar behind the socio- cultural rebirth in Kerala. The P N Panicker Foundationand P N Panicker Vigyan Vikas Kendra have been observing the Reading Day, Reading Week, and Reading Month Celebrations since 19th June, 1996. This day is celebrated with an aim to promote the culture of reading and to inculcate the habit of reading among school children, youth as well as the underprivileged population of the country. In 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared June 19, Kerala’s Reading Day, as National Reading Day in India.
On the occasion of P. N. Panicker National Reading/Digital Reading Day – Month Celebration 2022, the Department of Library & Information Science, Readers’ Club and NDLI Club of the College organized different activities to promote reading amongst students.
Following were the activities conducted from 21st July to 27th July 2022 for the students and Staff members.
DAY ONE – 21st July, 2022
- Reading Pledge- The activities commenced on 21stJuly with the Reading pledge. Reading pledge was administered by the teaching faculty in all the classes from 10:15am onwards and the College Principal in the College office. 623 students, 25 teachers and 15 office staff participated in the pledge taking activity.
- Virtual Book Exhibition on Indian Authors- A Virtual Book Exhibition on Indian Authors was released on online platforms viz. WhatsApp and other social media handles of the College on 21st The unique feature of this exhibition was that an individual could click on any of the novels listed on the digital poster and could get an access to the e-book. 550 students benefited from the activity. This poster was also shared with the general public with an aim to promote wide reading.
- E-quiz on Books & Authors– An e-quiz on books and authors was also open to students and staff members on 21st The e-quiz had 10 questions having 5 marks each. The participants had to identify the writer of the book mentioned in each question. No negative marking was given. Participants received an e-certificate on answering and scoring 50% and above. 590 students and 30 teachers participated in the activity and received an e- certificate.
- Promotion of Group Reading- With an aim to introduce students to group reading and its advantages, 56 students gathered in the College Library Reading Room at 12:15 pm. These students were divided into 12 groups of 4 students each. 12 bestseller novels were identified and were distributed among these groups. Ms. Samiksha Vengurlekar briefed the students about this activity. All the four students from each group had to closely analyse the cover of the book, characters, setting of the novel, read the author’s note, the first chapter of the book. One student from each group had to make notes and towards the end of the activity that student had to read the brief summary about the book based on the group reading and discussion.
DAY TWO – 22nd July 2022
- Talk on Importance of Reading by a Goan Author – Mrs Rekha Rao- A talk on Importance of Reading was held for the students on 22ndJuly at 12:15 in the Smart Classroom of the College. The speaker for the event was Mrs. Rekha Rao, an author of Goan origin. The event began with the Welcome address by Ms. Samiksha Vengurlekar, Convener of the Readers’ Club. She also made the students aware about the P.N. Panickar National Reading Celebration. In the talk, the author, Mrs. Rao inspired the young minds to take up reading for personal upliftment and knowledge. She elaborately discussed the advantages of reading by quoting, ‘today’s reader is tomorrow’s leader’. She suggested books and genres that students could read regularly. Another highlight of this event was the Launch of new and unique library service Shodhgyan – Current Contents, which is a monthly ICT enabled service which highlights the articles which are indexed in UGC-CARE list/peer-reviewed journals and selected magazines subscribed at by the College, initiated by the College Librarian, Mrs Manasi Rege. Its objective is to boost research temper in students and teachers. Towards the end of the event the honourable Chief Guest gifted a book to the College which was handed over to the Vice Principal. The speaker was gifted with dry-fruits and a Novel as a token of love. Ms. Manasi Rege, College Librarian proposed the Vote of Thanks. 67 students attended this event. The event concluded with National Anthem.
- Launch of Shodhgyan: Current Contents – Shodhgyan: Current Contents were launched at the hands of Mrs. Rehka Rao on 22.07.2022.It is a monthly basis ICT enabled Library service, which highlights the current articles which are indexed in UGC-CARE Listed and peer-reviewed journals and selected magazines subscribed at Shree Damodar College Library.
DAY-THREE – 23rd July 2022
- Session on Digital Reading Resources for students – Manasi Rege, College Librarian held a session for students on Digital Reading Resources. The sessions were held in 3 classes and 175 students attended the same. During the session, students were given awareness on the use of Digital resources viz. NDLI (National Digital Library of India), N-List(National Library and Information Services Infrastructure for Scholarly Content) and Indiastat Database.
DAY-FOUR – 25th July 2022
- Mini-Marathon –“Reading for Development”- A Mini Marathon with a theme ‘Reading for Development’ was organized in VVM Educational Campus for the Students and Staff members on 25thJuly 2022 at 12.15 pm. The marathon was flagged-off by the College Head Clerk, Mrs Shruti Nayak from the College main entrance. Instructions were given to the participants by Ms. Samiksha Vengurlekar. The participants had to visit 5 stations, at each station a student with placard depicting quotes on reading were placed. After visiting respective stations, the participants reached the final point. The mini-marathon got a tremendous response from 62 students and 10 teachers.
DAY-FIVE26th July 2022
- Practicing of Digital Reading- The act of reading is changing in recent times with the increase in technology and the availability of the content on online platforms, reading has now become digitized. In order to emphasize on the importance of Digital Reading an activity to Practice Digital Reading was conducted on 26th July at 12:15pm in the Library Reading Room. 75 students participated in this activity. 10 award winning novels viz. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, If God Was A Banker by Ravi Subramanian, The White Tiger by Arvind Adiga, You Can Win by Shiv Khera, The Secret Wish List by Preeti Shenoy, The Immortals of Meluha by Amish Tripathi, After All This Time by Nikita Singh, Can Love Happen Twice? By Ravindra Singh, Now That You’re Rich, Lets Fall in Love: Let’s Fall in Love! by Durjoy Datta and Maanvi Ahuja were listed and the e-books of these novels were added to a digital poster via a link. Participants could click on any of the e-book link and read the novel on their devices. Participants enjoyed the experience and thanked the College for organizing such an activity. Everyone was encouraged to read the books till the end.
DAY-SIX – 27th July 2022
- Book Exhibition- A book exhibition was organized on 27th July 2022 at 10.00am in the Library Reading Room. The exhibition was inaugurated at the hands of the Chief Guest of the function Mrs. Cintia Abranches, Principal of RMS Higher Secondary School. The collection of 1050 English novels from the College Library were displayed for the exhibition. 900+ students and teachers from the College and the sister institutions of VVM visited the Book exhibition and identified books they can later issue. The Chief Guest Mrs. Abranches appreciated the coordinators for organizing this activity. This was the concluding activity of the P.N. Panicker National Reading/Digital Reading Celebration-2022.
The P.N Panicker National Reading/Digital Reading Day – Month Celebration 2022 proved to be fruitful with successful series of activities. All the activities were Coordinated by Ms. Manasi Rege, College Librarian and Ms. Samiksha Vengurlekar, Readers’ Club Convenor, under the guidance and support of the College Principal Prof. Prita D. Mallya and Vice Principal Dr. Rodney D’Silva.
