Some of the participants in the Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing Schools Outreach Programme.
Doha: Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing (BQFP) has concluded their Schools Outreach Programme for the spring term of this year, which included a second season of Ready Steady Read, the librarian mentoring programme, as well as teachers and parents’ workshop and a student competition.
Ready Steady Read was conducted for a second season, this time covering a variety of practices to help librarians promote reading inside, as well as outside, the library. The programme’s sessions covered strategies on how to add character to libraries in a child-friendly manner, how to select appropriate collections of books, and how to mobilise members of the school community to campaign for the importance of reading. Nineteen librarians representing sixteen schools joined the programme.
Educational Programmes Developer at BQFP, Amira Abed, said: “An essential part of the workshop is to promote the various extents of the librarian’s role not only inside the library, but outside of it as well.”
Head of Libraries and the Media Center at Qatar Academy, Beverly Stubbs, addressed the qualities a librarian should embody to succeed. She encouraged them to embrace technology and use it to their advantage, rather than shying away from it, and to network with one another to find a common vision. She also urged librarians to use their passion as a driving force to deliver the message of reading.
The Peninsula
