Friends of African Village Libraries

Paul Ayuretoliya writes: Last week 71 boxes of books and two book shelves were provided by Biblionef Ghana (with support from the Rotary Club of The Hague-Metropolitan District and the Rotary Club of Tema), with CESRUD as implementing partner (Ghana News Agency story is here). Now 22 basic schools in Bolgatanga West B’ and Bolgatanga North Circuits all in Sumbrungu and Nyariga communities now have mini school libraries. Children in these schools are now able to read any book of their choice. Two teachers (that is the head teacher and the school library teacher) from each of the 22 basic schools were invited for the books presentation of a donation of 71 boxes of books and two shelves. In attendance also were the executive director of CESRUD/FAVL Ghana, Mr. Asanga Rex, Upper East Regional library librarian, Mr. Leslie Kasanga and one other staff, the Circuit Supervisor for Bolga West B’ Circuit Madam Theodora Ako, leaders of the teachers association of both circuits and three media house; Mr. Anthony Apubeo from Ghana News Agency, Mr. Abopaam Mac Donald from Dreams Fm and Isaac Akolgo from BTU Radio.

In my welcome address, I made mentioned of the efforts CESRUD/FAVL Ghana have over the years has put in place to offer every child the opportunity to pick up a book and read with the view of improving upon quality education at all levels. I made mentioned of the Vision and Mission of FAVL and how the coming in of Biblionef Ghana have helped to further advance the course of reading for all. All those who were in attendance were happy to hear that two more schools have been added to the existing 20 schools. We give credit to Biblionef Ghana. The Executive Director thanked all for coming and asked the teachers to pay particular attention to helping the children read and promoting reading at their respective schools. He asked the teachers of what benefit will it be if all the books provided is not put to good use. They should ensure that children patronizes the books at all time, they should make time to read with children as often as possible, and encourage them to read at all time. He took participants down memory lane the idea of the community libraries how it started among others. The Upper East Regional librarian on his part was happy to be part of the program, he said CESRUD/FAVL Ghana were doing almost a greater part of the work that the Ghana Library Authority should have been doing, and so he happy and wished that the books they are taking back to their schools will be put to good use. He assure all teachers that staff from the Upper East Regional Library will be available when call upon to offer any technical support like cataloguing and others.

All the school library teachers were given the opportunity to report on how their libraries have been running since schools resumed after COVID 19 break. They all reported that children are patronizing the school libraries and reading the books when it is the library hours. A summation of some intervention put in place to ensure that the books are put to good use, some are as follows;
– All schools have made provision in their school time table a library period, some schools have library period twice in a week for every class or more.
– Children are encourage to borrow books to the house and read and upon return report or summarized the story in the book.
-Children are given the assignment to find at least three new words in a story book from the school library.
-Some teachers read some of story books from the libraries and shared with children to arouse their interest to also read.

In all we had a successful books presentation day yesterday, in fact Biblionef Ghana would have been around yesterday to do the presentation, but they sent the books and asked that CESRUD do the presentation to the various schools on their behalf this time round due to the COVID 19 and its related issues.

Paul Ayuretoliya writes: This is a brief update from the Gowrie-Kunkua community library about the ongoing works. The plastering works have since been completed, the flooring works is next and then window works and painting. The progress of work very slow though, everything is gradually getting to finishing. Thank you.

Paul Ayuretoliya writes: Today in the morning, Mr. Asanga Rex and myself was hosted at the Bolgatanga Technical University (BTU) radio located in Sumbrungu. The radio station has a wide coverage reaching almost every part of the Upper East Region. A lot people especially those from Sumbrungu and the surrounding communities listen to the this radio station regularly. We discussed with listeners among other things the existence of the three community libraries and school libraries, the roles and impact of these libraries and the need for all parents and guardians to encourage their children to visit the libraries and read. The discussion were also a form of awareness creations about the existence of these libraries, there were others prior to the discussion that did not know about the existence of these libraries. The Executive Director Mr. Asanga Rex centered his part of discussion on the broader picture of CESRUD and that of FAVL. How the three community libraries came about and other interventions by CESRUD to improve quality education and reduce poverty among others. He also touched on the extension of the libraries to 22 basic schools with books stock of over 600. He seized the opportunity to thanked Biblionef Ghana for the donations of the books that was distributed yesterday.

During the phone- in session, a good number of people called and thanked Mr. Asanga Rex for the support he have been able to give to the respective communities and schools through CESRUD/FAVL Ghana and all partners who supports with the donations of books and other learning materials to these libraries. Some of the callers wanted to know the measures put in place to prevent stealing of the books, and also when a child borrow a book and misplaced or lost the book, will that child be asked to pay for the book? I responded by explaining to those callers that every book in each of the libraries are stamp and given unique numbers that helps in the tracking of the books should any book be stolen or missing, then again the community libraries librarians are also trained on issues of this nature, they are to ensure that no bags enter the library and that users are search before leaving the libraries when need be. On the other question, when a borrow book is misplaced or lost, it will be investigated and depending on the outcome of the investigation, the child who borrow the book or the parent of that child will be asked to either pay for the book or buy same to replace the missing book.

We are planning of visiting the radio studio next time with some patrons for them to share some benefits of reading with listeners.

Paul Ayuretoliya writes: This is a brief update report about happenings at the three community libraries being supported by FAVL through CESRUD for the first week of March. Attendance to the respective community libraries for week one of March was very good and encouraging. Most basic pupils and a good number of Senior High Schools student who are home for vacation patronized the respective libraries and read story books, studied notes taken from schools, practiced mathematics, and read their courses text books among others activities. Interacting with the patrons, I was told the libraries are conducive environment and places for attentive reading and focused learning. At the Sumbrungu community library, attendance for week one of March was quite impressive, some of the patrons in the course of the week read story books from the library while others studied. At the Sherigu community library, attendances to the library were also good for the first week of March. Patrons who visited the library also read  story books from the library, read their notes from school and worked on their assignments. The librarian was at post ensuring that everything worked well for an enjoyable and fun reading. The librarian was able to read few story books in group with patrons. The renovation works at the Gowrie-Kunkua library is steadily progressing and there will be more updates in a few days time.