Our readers know we’ve been focusing on the Public
Library (APL) in Axim, Ghana, for some time now---since Feb 2010, in fact, when Maryanne Ward
and Regina Lawler---personal friends, intrepid travelers, professional librarians,
and Ghana Together volunteers---noticed a distinct lack of children’s books in
the APL.
We met with Library Director Mercy Ackah and Western Heritage Home Chair James Kainyiah, who asked for help with the APL children's program. They set up a children's room with help from us and the District Assembly. But, we needed BOOKS---lots of books!
By 2012 we had a network of dedicated people in place and were shipping children’s books.
By 2012 we had a network of dedicated people in place and were shipping children’s books.
By 2014, we had hundreds (thousands?) of books, but the motorcycle
they were using to deliver to a few very nearby schools had failed beyond repair. More schools were
asking for help. So Western Heritage Home and Ghana Together decided to buy a
motor tricycle and outfit it as a mobile library. It was dedicated fall of 2014.
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| Mobile Library Ready to Launch!! |
By Jan 2015, the APL was ready to launch a Mobile
Library Service to schools.
Maryanne Ward visited in Jan-Feb 2015 and got a first-hand
project update.
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| Library staffers Gaddiel Eyison (right) and James Amrado pack up boxes of books to deliver to schools, via the Mobile Library |
The Mobile Library visits seven government primary schools
in Axim: Anglican, Catholic, Methodist, Beamish, Akyinim, Apewosika, and AhleSunna. (Yes, we know it's a bit confusing to Americans. The schools with religious names were founded by Christian missionaries or local Muslims in the early to mid-20th century, and although they are now "government" (public) schools, they retain their original names.)
The Mobile Library also serves five private schools: Morning Star, Augustino, Manye, SADA, and CTK.
The Mobile Library also serves five private schools: Morning Star, Augustino, Manye, SADA, and CTK.
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| When the Mobile Library arrives at a school, the Headmaster/Mistress commandeers some strong JHS students to help carry in the boxes |
Students pay one Ghana cedi to register for one year
(about 30 cents). This is affordable by all, although we’ve let the library
staff know if even this is too much for a specific family, we will help.
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| Students giving their one-cedi bills to Mr. Eyison to register as library members for one year |
The registration fee helps the library pay for the cards,
envelopes, pens, glue markers, and other supplies.
Students who are registered check out one book per Mobile Library visit. Students are allowed to swap books with other students who are registered (a little pressure here!).
Students who are registered check out one book per Mobile Library visit. Students are allowed to swap books with other students who are registered (a little pressure here!).
By end of Feb 2015, 2,465 students had
registered!!
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| Students gather round to select their book for the week---big decision!! |
Library members are instructed to “take your book to the
house and read it to your mother.” In this way, Moms not only can proudly see
their child’s reading ability, but also may learn a little literacy themselves
and be able to help younger children not yet in school.
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| What could be better than this???!!! |
So far, we have focused on the lower primary grades
through about 4th grade, with “easy readers.” Remember, schools have
no or very limited libraries. Kids mostly only read what their teacher writes
on the board and what they copy into their notebooks.
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| Girls read... |
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| Boys read too... |
But
Maryanne heard over and over from students that they want “books with more
words.” The older children have pretty good reading skills now,
and they want something besides “Picture Books.”
SO,
DEAR READER…
If
you have children/youth books around, you know who to contact!
The
guidelines?
If you would buy the book today for your child or grandchild, you hit the jackpot! It’s
good to go! Think ANY good children's books, but especially story books or children's non-fiction.
Please---no
...textbooks, computer books, old encyclopedias, overtly culturally “American”---zombies, religious tracts, American holidays, cookbooks, Disney, Superman, American literary “classics” (Emerson, Hawthorne, Mark Twain…)---you get the idea! Nothing but the BEST for our kids in Axim!! Fiction or non-fiction, both OK.
...textbooks, computer books, old encyclopedias, overtly culturally “American”---zombies, religious tracts, American holidays, cookbooks, Disney, Superman, American literary “classics” (Emerson, Hawthorne, Mark Twain…)---you get the idea! Nothing but the BEST for our kids in Axim!! Fiction or non-fiction, both OK.
HEARTFELT THANKS TO...
--Book donors---every one of you!!
--Ebeneezer Mienza who lives in Maryland, receives our US Postal mailed books, knows a shipper...
--Shipper, whoever you are...
--Ghanaians George Hayford and Ismael Baidoo who live in Accra and go to the port at Tema to pick up the books and drive them in their van to their own hometown, Axim...
--Ghana Library Authority Regional Director Mercy Ackah who launched the project in Axim in 2010 and continues to lead the effort...
--Gaddiel Eyison, James Amrado, and National Service worker Frederick Aman who staff the library, ride the motor tricycle, do all the hard work of packing and unpacking and checking in and checking out...
--Axim Municipal Assembly for fuel for the motor tricycle...
--James Kainyiah and Western Heritage Home for having the Mobile Library idea in the first place and staying on top of everything month by month...
--All the headmistresses/masters and teachers who make it work at the schools!
And, if you are reading this and have connections with other Ghanaian Nzema East/Western Region towns that have libraries, you know who to contact for some ideas on how you can replicate this model. They are asking for some help, but we can’t really expand to their areas.
To contact us: info@ghanatogether.org
For more info: http://ghanatogther.org
