Girl-centered books to 60 village libraries

On the morning of Tuesday, December 15, at around 9 am, at the library of Rouko, in the presence of some readers and the librarian, a batch of forty books of African authors was given to Sawadogo Alimissi, first deputy to the mayor for the library. This gift of books is part of the program of FAVL-BF to support and support the libraries of its network. Mr. Sawadogo first addressed the readers by encouraging them to attend the library but also to be interested in reading before congratulating FAVL-BF for their accompaniment of the library through this gesture. He said that the donation of books challengeds the municipal council to take more commitment, responsibility and to get involved in the sustainability of the community library of Rouko.

Dans la matinée du mardi 15 décembre, aux environs de 9 heures, à la bibliothèque de Rouko, en présence de quelques lecteurs et du bibliothécaire, un lot d’une quarantaine de livres d’auteurs africains a été remis à Sawadogo Alimissi, premier adjoint au maire pour la bibliothèque. Ce don de livres s’inscrit dans la dynamique de FAVL-BF à soutenir et appuyer les bibliothèques de son réseau. Monsieur Sawadogo, s’est d’abord adressé aux lecteurs en les encourageant à fréquenter la bibliothèque mais aussi à s’intéresser à la lecture avant de féliciter FAVL-BF pour son accompagnement à travers ce geste. Cela est un acte fort, qui interpelle le conseil municipal à prendre plus d’engagement, de responsabilité et à s’impliquer dans la pérennisation de la bibliothèque communale de Rouko.

In September 2018, FAVL director Michael Kevane spent two weeks working with FAVL-BF staff. As part of the trip, children's books (about $70 worth) were purchased using the funds from GlobalGiving donations. These books were then distributed to libraries and are now available for reading.

What is new at FAVL Burkina Faso?

• We have received a generous donation to work with the village of Koho to help start a library to honor the memory of the donor's beloved godmother, Clarice Weiniger. The mayor of Houndé (the rural commune in which Koho is located) has received our initial proposal and budget estimate. He and his staff, and councilors from the Koho community, will talk with the director of the gold mine that operates near Koho and which is a partner for many village projects. The Rural Council's budget session was Monday, November 20th. They were supposed to have discussed the project at that time. We have not heard back from them yet.
• We are proceeding to re-open the community library in Ouargaye. The mayor has been unwilling to establish a budget line for a staff person to be the librarian, preferring instead to use a succession of interns, national service personnel, or "volunteers" (often someone from the community who has finished secondaray school and wants some professional work experience, expecting to receive informal cash payments from the office of the mayor). Such a volunteer has now been recruited by the mayor, and will be trained by FAVL-BF staff in the coming months.
• The FAVL-BF staff visited the library of Niankorodougou in the far south of Burkina Faso. Everything was operating normally and the librarian is paid regularly from the mayor's office. They have started a reading club!
• The FAVL-BF team is continuing conversations with CENALAC, the government library support organisation. CENALAC has been allocated a budget of 500,000 FCFA per library (about $1000) per year for supporting library operations. They are not transparent how they spend those funds, however. We would like the 34 FAVL-supported libraries to become part of that network and be recognized as community libraries by CENALAC. The new director of CENLAC was open to the idea but pessimistic that the government would increase funding.
• The Hounde multimedia center (FAVL-BF local book production unit) has produced a new series authored by Koura Sylvie:
  Békila va à l’école, Békila fête la fin de la saison pluvieuse, Békila voyage, Le retour de Békila du village, and Békila apprend le lavage des mains. Sylvie also really likes reading the Harry Potter series!