Stationery refers to writing materials, including cut paper, envelopes, writing implements, continuous form paper and other office supplies. Stationery includes materials to be written on by hand (e.g., letter paper) or by equipment such as computer printers.
History of stationery
Originally, the term ‘stationery’ referred to all products sold by a stationer, whose name indicated that his book shop was on a fixed spot. This was usually somewhere near a university, and permanent, while medieval trading was mainly carried on by itinerant peddlers (including chapmen, who sold books) and others (such as farmers and craftsmen) at markets and fairs. It was a unique term used between the 13th and 15th centuries in the manuscript culture.
Stationers’ shops were places where books were bound, copied, and published. These shops often loaned books to nearby university students for a fee. The books were loaned out in sections, allowing students to study or copy them, and the only way to get the next part of the book was to return the previous section.
In some cases, stationers’ shops became the preferred choice for scholars to find books, instead of university libraries due to stationers’ shops’ wider collection of books. The Stationers’ Company formerly held a monopoly over the publishing industry in England and was responsible for copyright regulations.
Importance of stationery
Stationery plays a vital role in numerous aspects of our lives. Whether it’s jotting down notes during a meeting, writing a heartfelt letter to a loved one, or organizing important documents, stationery provides the necessary tools for effective communication, expression, and organization. Stationery is important in many aspects of life, including:
- Communication
Stationery is a tool for effective communication, such as writing thank you notes, letters, or taking notes during meetings.
- Organization
Stationery can help you organize important documents, class notes, assignments, and study materials.
- Expression
Stationery can help you express yourself artistically, such as through drawing or making school projects.
- Souvenir
Stationery can serve as a souvenir of special occasions, such as wedding invitations, sympathy notes, and thank you notes.
- Focus and memory
Writing by hand can engage your brain in ways typing doesn’t, which can help improve your focus and memory.
Some stationery items that students may find useful include Highlighters, Pens, Pencils, Erasers, Sharpeners, Notebooks, Paper clips, Pencil case, Sticky notes, and Binders.
Some School Stationery items list for students…
1. Pencils:
Pencil is the most basic of all the school stationery items required by a student. Starting from the first day of play school, a pencil becomes a student’s pal till his or her entire academic life. Whether a child learns basic alphabets or needs to draw complex biology diagrams of the heart and the nervous system, a pencil is a must! Apart from this, a student requires a different range of sketching pencils for drawing and shading objects.
2. Pens:
Every student is excited when he or she makes a transition from pencil to pen, as the grades increase. A pen makes a student feel that he or she has grown up now and is mature enough to handle all the errors that come along while using a pen. Gone are the days when feathers dipped in ink were used to write, however, the essence is still the same when a student uses a gel pen or a fountain pen to solve math sums or write a thesis!
3. Erasers:
Erasers are a part and parcel of a student’s life. Eraser goes hand in hand while using a pencil. Being human, we all tend to make mistakes while writing down English sentences or constructing an angle in geometry. Erasers come in different varieties, in fact, now they come in so many hues and designs that erasers have almost become a style statement.
4. Sharpeners:
Again, where there is a pencil, there needs to be a sharpener. A student needs a sharpener all along his or her student life, the way a pencil is his or her basic necessity. A sharpener is used to sharpen the lead of the pencil to make it sharp so that you write in your best handwriting and label the smaller areas of parts of a plant with ease. So, is the importance of a sharpener in a student’s life!
5. Geometry box:
A geometry box consists of a scale, a compass, a protector, and a set of squares. As a student is promoted to higher grades, a geometry box is a compulsory stationery item to help him or her solve problems in geometry. Whether a student needs to construct a triangle or draw a bar graph or a pie chart, geometrical items will go a long way!
6. Notebooks:
The above stationery items are of no use if a student doesn’t have a notebook to write on. A student requires different kinds of notebooks during his or her academic years to learn and write properly. We can find a wide spectrum of notebooks such as single lines, double-lined, four-lined, notebooks with blank pages on one side, and so on. For different subjects, different notebooks are maintained by a student.
7. Highlighters:
Highlighters are fluorescent markers that are used to bold or emphasize a particular text or paragraph in a textbook. Highlighters come in a variety of colors such as pink, green, yellow, blue, and so on. They can be thick or even thin and are used by higher graders daily while learning and revising their concepts.
8. Art Supplies:
Every child needs a variety of art supplies, especially in lower grades. Even before using a pencil, a kindergarten kid is made to learn how to hold a crayon and start scribbling on paper. Right from when a student starts going to school, art supplies such as crayons, watercolors, paint brushes, palettes, pencil colours, acrylics, and more are used by a student to express his or her creativity or to find joy, and learn through artwork!
9. Craft items:
Just like art, craft is also an important aspect of a student’s life. Often kids love working with origami papers, glue, scissors, popsicles, quilling strips, glitters, and everything that helps them create and decorate their crafts. Craft is a very satisfying aspect of a child’s life to explore his or her creativity and strengthen hand-eye coordination.
10. Sticky notes:
Just like highlighters, sticky notes come in a wide range of attractive hues. Though small in size, they have a big role to play in a student’s life. Often found on a student’s desk, these small papers are used to note down important points while learning a difficult concept or write down the timetable or a plan for the next day, a couple of weeks, or even a yearly plan. Sticky notes can be stuck anywhere you have easy access to read them again and again.
Apart from the above, there are other stationery items too such as staplers, pencil boxes, and paper clips that are required by a student on his or her journey of academic excellence!