Give a Child in Africa the Gift of Reading

by EIFL

Project Report | May 10, 2017
Surprise for young readers in Ethiopia!

By Jean Fairbairn | EIFL Communications Manager

New books surprised and delighted the children.

There was great excitement at four public libraries in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital city, in April when each library received a consignment of 96 children’s books, bought with your generous donations.

Most of the books (a total of 384) received by Kirkos, Lideta, Kolfe Keranyo and Yeka public libraries are by African authors and published in Amharic, which is the most widely-spoken language in Addis Ababa.

Exciting new titles like The Secret Village, The Magician, The Tricky Monkey and Kukusha, the Brave Bird are now surprising and delighting hundreds of children who browse the libraries' shelves. The collection also includes history books and reference works in Amharic to help schoolchildren with their homework.

To greet the books, librarians at Kolfe Keranyo public library organized a colourful ceremony on Saturday, 29 April, attended by representatives of the Addis Ababa Culture and Tourism Bureau (which manages libraries in the city), librarians, and people from the community - grandparents, parents and children.

Librarian Solomon Bogol said: “We have recently started reading events in the library. The new books will enrich these events. Thank-you to our donors!”

Addressing the ceremony, Alemu Abebe, Library Development and Management Coordinator, of the non-governmental literacy development agency, Code-Ethiopia, spoke about the importance of family reading sessions (in which parents and children read together) for early literacy development.

In Ethiopia, the 384 books cost just US$1,010, including delivery. We have also passed on donations of US$1,010 to Kenya National Library Service and the National Library of Uganda to buy books for libraries in those countries. Stay tuned for our next report when we'll tell you what books the libraries chose and what young readers have to say about them!

Lideta public librarians receive the books.

Each library received 96 children's books.

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Feb 10, 2017
A happy New Year for young library users in Africa

By Jean Fairbairn | EIFL Communications Manager

The children's section in a Kenyan public library.

2017 is going to be a really happy New Year for children using public libraries in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. Thanks to you, we have raised over US$2,000 to buy books by popular African authors to put on the children’s shelves in seven public libraries. We’ve been working with library leadership in the three countries to select public libraries most in need of children’s books. So far, we’ve chosen -

Two small public libraries serving rural communities in Kenya, that will greatly benefit from this gift. Dzitsoni Community Library serves the coastal village of Dzitsoni in Kilifi County. Librarians report that children from Dzitsoni schools are enthusiastic library members and are looking forward to the new books. Rumuruti Community Library, in the heart of Rumuruti trading centre in Rift Valley region. The library was started by community members who wished to improve standards of living by building a reading culture among young people. It has four very active book clubs, say librarians.
Four public libraries, Kirkos, Lideta, Kolfe Keranyo and Yeka, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s bustling capital city. The libraries serve the children of factory workers, traders and small business owners, and farmers who send their children to the city to study. Librarians are looking forward to adding new books to the sparsely stocked children’s shelves, and starting reading sessions in the afternoons.
In Uganda, we have Moyo Public Library, in Moyo District in northern Uganda, one of the poorest areas of the country. This library is planning to start a reading club and will be buying many copies of books to support group reading activities for the children of subsistence farmers who attend schools in Moyo town.

Delighted librarians are now choosing books. We’ll tell you more about the books - and what the children say - in our next report.

Librarians will select books with local relevance.

Father and daughter in an Ethiopian library.

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