The Teachers' Podcast
Revolutionising access to books: Arnav Rawat, founder of Books2All
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Episode notes
EPISODE NOTES
In this episode, Claire talks with Arnav Rawat: Founder of the Books2All charity.
After graduating from the University of Cambridge and returning home, Arnav came across a vast collection of books from his childhood. His fond memories of being transported to worlds that exist only in books, along with the appreciation that books helped him on his path to achieving his academic goals, prompted Arnav to donate his books to schools and to children who needed them.
However, due to the pandemic and lockdown restrictions, this was challenging; so Arnav founded Books2All and created an app-based scheme where book donors and schools are linked and then set about further developing this modern, more efficient process.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Educational inequality
Arnav views inequality as being a difference in the number, or quality, of the opportunities an individual receives due to their background, their income and other factors that aren’t necessarily, as he says, ‘their fault’. In terms of education, whether that be having the right resources to prepare for an exam, having access to the right materials to find the job you want, Arnav considers there to be instances of educational inequality right across the UK. - Reading reduces loneliness
One in five readers find reading books reduces loneliness. During the Covid-19 pandemic, when social contact has been so limited, reading can support children in feeling less alone. - Make the app work for you
Arnav encourages listeners to get in touch via the website www.books2all.co.uk and share any further ideas. Arnav and the team are passionate about helping schools increase children’s accessibility to books as much as they possibly can.
BEST MOMENTS
“A child from a disadvantaged background is typically 18 months behind their peers when they sit their GCSEs. So, at the age of 15, you’re already one and a half years behind. That’s 10% of your life.”
“Books2All is a very new charity. We were founded in June last year and our aim is to reduce educational inequality in the UK through the provision of books. The way we want to do this is to revolutionise the book donation process to schools.”
“For us, we don’t see our app as a way for a school to get hundreds of books. We see it as getting 10, 15 or 20 books that actually really matter and will really be used heavily at that school.”
“Because 1 in 8 schools don’t have a library, those students at those schools don’t get that opportunity to either read for pleasure or research and find things they’re interested in.”
“I remember when I was growing up, it wasn’t necessarily the first book I opened and suddenly fell in love with reading. It took me a while. Then, all of a sudden, I found the genre, the style of writing, that really suited me.”
“I’d go onto the app, I’d log in, I’d say where I am and how far I’m willing to travel… And then I’d scan in the barcode of each book and those books would automatically be uploaded onto our database. On top of that, I’d also send in a photo just of the front cover so that the school gets a bit of an idea about the condition as well before they receive it.”
“Some schools have libraries with a certain amount of books that are plentiful, but other sorts of genres and other writing styles that aren’t so plentiful. Essentially, what the librarian can do is go through the app and select exactly which books they want.”
“On our blog we also have authors doing some Q and As and giving their insights into how they got into writing and reading and how you can use their ideas in the classroom.”
VALUABLE RESOURCES
Website: https://books2all.co.uk
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Books2All
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Books2All
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/books2all/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/books2all/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/arnav-rawat-853aba149/
Classroom Secrets Kids: https://kids.classroomsecrets.co.uk
The Teachers’ Podcast: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheTeachersPodcast/
Classroom Secrets Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClassroomSecretsLimited/
Classroom Secrets website: https://classroomsecrets.co.uk/
LIFE/work balance campaign: https://classroomsecrets.co.uk/lifeworkbalance-and-wellbeing-in-education-campaign-2019/
ABOUT THE HOST
'My mother is a teacher. I will never be a teacher.' - Claire Riley
Claire arrived at the end of her performing arts degree with no firm plans to move into the entertainment industry. A fully funded secondary teaching course seemed like the perfect way to stall for a year on deciding what to do with her life. Turns out, teaching was her thing.
Three years in a challenging secondary school - check. Two years in primary schools with over 90% EAL children - check. Eight years doing day-to-day supply across 4-18 - check. If there's one thing she learnt, it was how to identity the best ideas from every school in terms of resources and use that knowledge to create something that would work for teachers far and wide.
In 2013, Classroom Secrets was born. Claire had seen other resource sites and wanted to add something to the market that she felt was missing. More choice + More quality = Balance.
Claire is a self-proclaimed personal development junkie and is always looking for ways to learn and improve. It's usually centred around business, her new-found passion.
In 2019, Claire launched The Teachers' Podcast that hits the charts on launch and is listed in the top 200 educational podcasts most weeks.
The Teachers’ Podcast is a series of interviews where Claire meets with a wide range of guests involved in the field of education. These podcasts provide exciting discussions and different perspectives and thoughts on a variety of themes which are both engaging and informative for anyone involved in education.
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