Good morning esteemed judges, respected teachers, participants and all present here!
I, Mayank Jain, of grade XII ‘A’ representing Mount Dhaulagiri House, stand before you to deliver a speech on - "The importance of library for students".
First of all, I would request you all to give a huge round of applause to the hidden gem of our school: The Library. We all see the library as a hall filled with thousands of books – both new and old. Some books are so old that even our grandfathers had black hair when reading them. But I request you all to change your perspective towards the library. Library is a place where anything you touch fills you with knowledge and skills. Skills like learning of listening. Most importantly, it teaches you the art of silence.
Talking about our school, we all have been given a single library period a week, which many of us see a leisure to sit and gossip or to complete our incomplete sleep schedule. I was among this group until I reached my grade 11, where our first-floor, beautiful library gave me access to books which cost free - some of them were S.L. Arora and H.C. Verma.
Our school also provides us with a library card which many of us see as a ninja star shooting it here and there or else keeping it in clear bag for their entire life without using it. But I want to tell you friends that its wrong! Library card is like a passport and books are like countries. The card allows access you to millions of ideas - so use it wisely.
Library is like a treasure hunt until one day you find a book which makes you a book lover or gives you a life lesson. For me, it was ‘The Psychology of Money’ by Morgan Housel. It was kept on the Teachers table and I randomly read the first 3/4 pages and ended up reading the whole book which gave me a belief that I can also read books and enjoy.
All superheroes wear caps but our Librarians don't. Our Librarians have a genuine superpower of knowing where a particular book by a specific author is kept, in which column of the library. And yes, it requires a lot of memory power. So next time you visit the library, make sure to thank your teachers who helped you find your resources which you couldn’t find even if you were given 5 – 6 hours.
Library provides you with curriculum, books and teachers too. The teachers get a chance to give you a depth of knowledge for a specific topic using resource book. So don’t choose a book by looking at its cover instead take it to cover your life with some knowledge.
In conclusion, I would like to say that whenever you pass by the library, just remember, it’s a magical land where, keeping quiet is the superpower and all you need is curiosity.
So, dive into the sea of knowledge and revel the peacefulness. Stay curious and keep reading.
With this, I, Mayank Jain, thank you for patiently listening to my speech.
Thank you all!