Bookstore Visits – Greater Exposure to Authors and Genres

This March, our students visited three bookstores as a follow-up to the Festival of Books which was held at Jyotirmay International School on 7^th March, 2016, with an aim to understand how bookstores function.

Students from Ivy, Basil and Amber groups at Crossword Bookstore

First off, a mixed group of Ivy, Basil and Amber paid a visit to the Crossword Bookstore at InOrbit Mall, Viman Nagar on 11^th March where they got to see shelves filled with various genres of books besides magazines, some knickknacks, soft toys, art works and posters. They even saw CDs and DVDs for music and films being sold in a large bookstore.

For many of these young children this was their first exposure to a large sized bookstore, which understandably meant that they had many questions for the store manager. At the end of their visit, they made an attempt to sketch the layout of the store to add to their learning of how books are arranged.

One week later on 18^th March, two mixed groups set out for their bookstore visits: the middle schoolers from Coral and Saffron groups went to another Crossword Bookstore located at Phoenix Mall, also at Viman Nagar.

Coral and Saffron groups exploring books at Crossword Bookstore

Sitting under the Thinking Tree

After a detailed visit through all the sections, the children also got to sketch this store's layout and later through an interactive talk session with the store manager they learned about their marketing strategies.

Senior students exploring books

At Pagdandi Chai & Books Store

Meanwhile on the same morning, nine senior students stepped out for a field trip to the Pagdandi Chai and Books Store at Baner. Noted among the top five book cafés in Pune in an online review, this bookstore also hosts storytelling circles and open mic sessions for aspiring writers.

Besides looking up unusual books in various genres by known and unknown authors, the students also explored the benefits of technology – eBooks vis-à-vis use of paper in printing paperbacks and hard cover books.