“It’s absolutely beautiful –bright colours, lots of great artwork and full of fantastic books. ”
That’s
how one student summed up her feelings as she stepped foot in latest Book Bus community
library. Located in Livingstone, Zambia,
Maanu Mwambi Community library flung its doors open this month to more than 500
school children and the local community.
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| A beautiful new Book Bus library for the children of Maanu Mwambi school |
The story on our latest library build began in February 2015, when Hampshire based Secondary School, Cams Hill, approached The Book Bus looking to fund a project as part of their ‘Freedom To Dream’ programme.
We identified Maanu Mwambi School in Livingstone as the
perfect partner. We had strong links with the community with our reading mentor
programme and the children had already developed a real enthusiasm for reading.
In June we agreed that a new library would be a real positive boost for the
schools literacy programme and also help the community develop a reading
culture. Ideally we wanted the library
build, finished and opened before the rainy season began in November.
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| The walls are built from local bricks |
From the very start of the project, the whole community
became involved and local suppliers were used in every aspect of the build. Foundations
were dug and handmade bricks were made from the soil of termite mounds and baked
in a nearby kiln to form the library walls.
A local painter was tasked with making the library as colourful as possible. Of course, Book Bus yellow was the favourite colour. Vibrant bunting was made from locally-produced fabrics and hung across the ceilings under the watchful eye of Book Bus co-ordinator Kelly Geoghegan. Multi-coloured furniture and shelves all added to the friendly and welcoming feel. The aim was to make the library as inviting and fun as possible so that the children would want to spend their time there discovering the wonderful world of books.
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| The children helped stock their library |
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| The books are sorted |
In September thousands of books began to arrive, kindly
delivered by our own Book Bus – George. The Grade 7 students from Maanu Mwambi offered to unload the books
and our Book Bus librarians, Claudia, Jackline and James took charge
cataloguing and sorting everything. The Book Bus recruits people from the local
community to help in the library as volunteers and to train them as reading mentors.
Some of the older children were also given the opportunity to receive training
on how to organise and run the library themselves.
In October, the dream had become a reality and the library
was officially opened. Hundreds of students and their parents turned out to see
the cutting of the tape. As a special prize, 10 children from each class were
chosen to be the first to experience the new library. The children couldn’t
contain their excitement when they walked in and took no time in diving
straight in to read their new books.
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| Celebrations on the opening day |
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| Livingstone's new bookworms.. |
Building libraries in schools and communities such as Maanu Mwambi provides real opportunities for children to read and improve their literacy skills. Books are powerful and being able to read helps unlock the potential of children.
This will open their eyes to the world around them and empower them to pursue their own dreams.
But we need your help too.
Join us as a reading mentor volunteer on our project in Zambia
Give a donation to keep the doors of Maanu Mwambi library
stay open
