Goodbooks Bookstore and Resource Centre is the first specialized children’s bookstore in the country. It combines bookselling with the promotion of reading through activities.  Consequently, it provides a common space for children and adults with a range of interests to interact and come together.  Formal and informal interactions with children and adults at the bookstore have thrown up several concerns and issues confronting education and the needs of children and teachers in particular.

A key concern is that quality education in India is a privilege and available to only a few, in schools that manage to attract the best available teaching talent which, unfortunately, is scarce.  The imbalance can only be corrected by providing the infrastructure for teacher-empowerment that focus on their professional development.  Hence the idea of the Goodbooks Teacher’s Centre to create a positive, pro-active space that will enable the upgradation and updating of teacher skills.

To begin with, the Goodbooks Teacher’s Centre will house a library of professional magazines, resource books and teaching aids where teachers can access the latest ideas and materials.  The library will also provide an internet-oriented information database.  The Goodbooks Teacher’s Centre will also be a forum for interaction with peers and profession leaders, to get together, and share professional experience, ideas, problems and solutions.  A strong network of teachers will be established with the Goodbooks Teacher’s Centre as a catalyst for innovation and creativity in teaching practices.

The Goodbooks Teacher’s Centre will organise and run regular teacher training and development workshops.  The workshops will cover a wide spectrum in response to felt teacher needs – from orientation to new methodology; from using IT-enabled materials in the classroom to improving teacher skills in the teaching subject.

The Goodbooks Teacher’s Centre's mission is to encourage teachers to engage actively in interactions with teachers everywhere, to effectively explore and exploit IT resources, to create original and innovative teaching aids and programs in English and other Indian languages, and to network with colleagues in a spirit of sharing and learning.  By focusing on the need for excellence in teaching and learning, the Centre’s endeavour is to work towards making education equitable and inclusive.

The Centre will be administered by The Goodbooks Trust.  The trustees are: Radhika Menon, Managing Editor Tulika Publishers and Managing Director, Goodbooks; Sandhya Rao, senior editor, Tulika Publishers; Uma Raman, educational consultant; Sashi Kumar, Chairman of the Media Development Foundation and Director, Goodbooks; V.Ravichandran, Chartered Accountant.