Books for the Siddhartha School

November 22, 2006

Having been granted a sabbatical I will be leaving for India on February 21st for five and a half months. The initial preparations have taken over a year to pull together. As a part of this journey I will attempt to journal and share photos of my experiences. For the first three months I will be in McLeod Ganj, the upper part of Dharamsala, and the home in exile for H.H. The 14th Dalai Lama There are several things I would like to do if the opportunity arises:

• attend a 10 day seminar at the Tushita Meditation Centre
• attend teachings from the Dalai Lama
• visit and study at the Library of Tibetan Works & Archives
• connect with the Tibetan Nuns Project
• take a workshop in Tibetan medicine
• trek

The second part of the journey and decidedly the primary reason for this trip is to set up a school library at the Siddhartha School in Stok, Ladakh, India. I have volunteered to share my expertise as a school librarian and technology specialist. Here's what I think I'll be doing but not limited to by any means:

• fundraising
  
• assist teachers in purchasing books
• organize, manage and process books
• develop a simple "Open Source" system for inventory, circulation and keyword searching
• training for the school staff
• reading and storytelling with the students
• assist with classroom activities
• work with students in the evening to do their schoolwork and practiceEnglish
  
• assist with technology and integration of technology
• have a great time
• be there when the first graduating class has their ceremony

Please refer to the webpage The Traveling Librarian for other interesting facts, micro-gear, books that would be interesting to read related to my journey. Stay posted and keep on my journey!