A glimpse into the Liferarian Association Conference 2022
The Liferarian Association hosted their 7th Conference in collaboration with the American School of Bombay in Mumbai on Saturday, 3rd December 2022.
This one-day conference for Librarians, Tech-Ed Teachers, Multi Language Teachers (ESL & Classroom Teachers) & IBO Core Teachers brought together over 100 participants from all over India. Offering three strands to cater to the librarian’s evolving role, the theme of the conference was centred around – Collaboration: Key to Students Success.
The Liferarian Association has two main goals:
- To support librarians in building 21st-century skills with knowledge and expertise through the Liferarian library programs.
- The second one is a desire to build libraries in low socioeconomic communities.
The Liferarian Association has served 9000 children across India & 2,750 fellow librarians. Keeping this endeavour and passion alive, the Liferarian Association has strived hard to continue our lifelong learning and build a collaborative community.
Objectives
- Exchange of best practices.
- To provide opportunities for Librarians, EAL Teachers and all Educators to share and learn through collaboration.
- To provide opportunities to aspire and blossom through lifelong learning.
Workshop Strands
Strand 1 – Library, Digital Citizenship & Technology
Library philosophy & curriculum, reading, writing, digital citizenship, technology, approaches to learning, information & media literacy, publications and more.
Strand 2 – IB Core: EE, TOK, CAS
Extended Essay (EE), Theory of Knowledge (TOK) & Community Action Service (CAS)
Strand 3 – Teaching English to Multi-Language Learners (ESL/EAL & Classroom Teachers)
EAL Practices to build language development and literacy for multi-language learners for EAL Teachers, Language Teachers, and other Educators.
Core members of the Association greeted participants and presenters with a gift of appreciation to celebrate the day.
Program of the day
Rosmeen Saifee, JBCN librarian and longtime member of the Liferarian Association, welcomed participants as the event’s emcee. The lighting of a lamp traditionally symbolises moving towards knowledge and awareness and has always been regarded as the harbinger of goodness and positivity. To light the lamp and commence the morning on an auspicious note, Kuntal Bhandare, Ketki Bedekar, Gizelle Rodrigues, Heeru Bhojwani, & Mr. Smithies were invited on stage to light the lamp followed by a welcome note from the Deputy Head of the American School. Mr. Smithies delivered the opening note with engaging activities to bring the community together with a shared vision for the day. His opening note built strong momentum for the day.
With participants on campus starting from 7:30 am, high energy levels were felt throughout the day until the closing event at 5:30 pm where participants and presenters received their presenter & participation certificates.
A day filled with learning, enthusiasm, and sharing; participants and presenters collaborated and built a strong community of Librarians and other educators. The vendors shared their educational products that added to the participant’s engagements. This Conference helped build new friendships and relationships were built.
When asked: What were some of the highlights of this Conference that the organisers can keep for next time? Participants were eager to respond. “Sharing and discussion sessions are useful to learn from other’s experiences.”
“Engaging sessions focused on hands-on activities that could be immediately implemented back at school. Keep the mix of instructional and operational sessions.”
“Loved the interaction and meeting the other librarians.”
“Presenters shared their knowledge and encouraged interaction throughout the workshops.”
To sum it all up
The Liferarian Conference served as a platform to bring librarians and educators from different schools and school boards, providing a unique opportunity to collaborate and share best practices. The program of the day brought equal opportunities to upskill their current practices as well as build stronger relationships within the tribe. The event’s theme was visible, where every educator sought student success and recognised that collaboration is the driving force behind the endeavour.
