Girl-centered books to 60 village libraries

The International Book Fair of Ouagadougou was held in Burkina Faso at the end of November. FAVL and ABVBF staff had a table showing off the books produced by FAVL-ABVBF (many of them girl-centered). Several librarians also made the trip up to Ouagadougou, and were given funds to purchase books for their libraries.

Here is the short description (translated from French): Friends of the Village Libraries of Burkina Faso/ABVBF, as part of its activities, will participate in the 17th edition of the Ouagadougou/FILO International Book Fair which will be held from November 23 to 26, 2023 at the Rising Sun pavilion of the SIAO in Ouagadougou. The theme of this 17th edition is: “Digital opportunities for the development of the book industry in Burkina Faso”. ABVBF, as an actor promoting reading and libraries in rural and urban areas, will participate in this major book event where it will present its activities and exhibit the photo books it has produced as well as the works produced at the Multimedia Center de Houndé (CMH) as part of the promotion of local talents in writing and illustration. It therefore invites the population to come massively to discover the know-how of the association.

Instead of purchasing books, our limited financial means have been directed to producing low-cost, age-appropriate books targetting girls-as-readers in the communities served. The team has produced several new excellent books, which are edited and printed and distributed in the Tuy province area.

The FAVL-supported libraries in Burkina Faso have had several tough years. The civil war, which started in 2016, has grown rapidly, and has pitted various Islamist-oriented groups (whose first actions are to close schools and insist that schooling be in Arabic, a language that few people in the country speak) against the Burkinabè military (which overthrew the democratic government in 2022, and suspended local government). The upshot of the conflict is that 21 of 38 libraries have been closed. Our partner organization in Burkina Faso, ABVBF, continues to visit libraries that remain open, in secure areas. The office in 2022 pivoted to a major initiative, the production of 10,000 copies of 50 illustrated books written and illustrated by residents of the town of Houndé. The books have been distributed to libraries that are open. This year our goal is to produce and distribute 50,000 copies. We are also exploring how we can expand the variety of books produced. We’d love to have a young adult science fiction series for readers in Burkina Faso.