Three smiling six year olds

Hello. What a lovely Friday afternoon I am having. Can I tell you why?

I went to the Mount Pleasant Branch to go meet my lovely group of reading volunteers that I am so lucky to know. Better friends you could not come across. Today Deborah, Justine, Chipo and Lindiwe met with myself, Thuthani and Tinashe (who is now working at the branch and is an Information Studies Student). Cool. 

We talked about spending regular time sorting out the books, labelling and sorting as well as agreeing Friday afternoons that we are free to read. We are also brainstorming 1000 book titles by children's authors (ages 7 years to 16 years). So it looks like we will be able to go through the shelves, get the reading corner decorated and spend time reading to children who live nearby. Fabulous. 

 That's not all. As our brief meeting came to an end there were several children hanging around waiting to be collected from school. So, I asked if they wanted a story read and gosh! did they grin from ear to ear.

I pulled out the story box, we looked through it and picked 2 stories. The first was an adaption of a Grimm Fairy Tale: The Magic Porridge Pot.  Mudsi, Malvin and Wanasi (all 6 years old) loved the idea of sweet porridge on demand and thought is fabulous that at the end the villagers had to eat their way home after the pot spilled and spilled and spilled the porridge out. We were barely done with the Monster Stories (Daisy and the Dragon) when the children were collected. 

Normally we read 2pm to 3pm so we only got started after 3pm because of our meeting. A good start to the third term never the less. I am sure these youngsters will help spread the word :-) 

Weeding

Yes weeding! That is the word librarians use when they go through the books on the shelf. I love learning new things.

In this case we were weeding for damaged, dated, inappropriate and just plane 'not wanted' books in the junior school categories (under 13 years) at HCL Mount Pleasant Library. We started at 9am today and there were 6 of us. This expanded to 8 over the course of the morning with some coming and going. We cleared 5 shelves and used a simple colour coding system for 6 and under (orange), 7 to 9 years (green) and 10 to 13 years (blue). We separated the fiction and non fiction (an extra silver sticker on top of the age categories).

Tina, our intern/student at the branch came to help and hopefully will be able to continue with the system during her working hours. You see we have no fully qualified librarians in the system due to very limited financial resources. There are a couple of certificate level but experienced individuals at the main building only. Even then, the whole system needs a senior librarian with an understanding of modern library systems and new roles in the community. As an ex-VSO volunteers myself, I am hoping that VSO will be able to help. Let's see.

Chipo and Deborah helping us pack up

Some of the shelf space being cleared and reloaded

Anyways, it was exhausting and backbreaking stuff but we were supervised by Roger, a trained librarian on the committee. The biggest challenge I felt was categorising the very old stock we have.

In the 60s and 70s children read differently.  Much more serious tomes, dense wording, small print. Nowadays we are so layout and language concious that it is easy to see what age groups read what (often they are labelled so). Sadly we have to keep then until we can get new modern readers :-(


Anyways, we will not have got it all correct. Now, if you visit the four shelves we started on you will be able to see the books (way hay) they are better displayed and have colour dots...so putting them back will be easier.

To manage a library I have learned, you have GOT to read books :-)

Happy World Literacy Day

Did you know September 8 was proclaimed International Literacy Day by UNESCO on November 17, 1965. It was first celebrated in 1966. Its aim is to highlight the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies. On International Literacy Day each year, UNESCO reminds the international community of the status of literacy and adult learning globally. All UN member states are ment to observe it. 

The theme of the 2011-2012 celebrations is “Literacy and Peace”.

Not sure if Zimbabwe or Harare have marked the day in any way. But we are. Harare City Library are hoping to run a small book campaign for the children's section at Mount Pleasant Branch. The committee will bea approaching schools and other local organisations for a 'bring a book' day at schools and offices. 

To help take a positive step towards supporting literacy we are organising 'book weeding' of the children's section at Mount Pleasant Library on Tuesday 11th September. We met today to plan it. There is just not enough staff capacity in the library (no revenue and no grant-in-aid from Government to pay for qualified staff) to handle this or to deploy available resources adequately to provide regular shelf support across the library. The Management Committee is stepping in to lend a helping hand. It takes experience, logic and a really good understanding of the children's books to be able to categorise them. If you don't read them it is going to be a challenge. I can't wait and have taken a day away from work to help do this with some friends and fellow volunteers. 

  Education brings sustainability to all the development goals, and literacy is the foundation of all learning. It provides individuals with the skills to understand the world and shape it, to participate in democratic processes and have a voice, and also to strengthen their cultural identity.    

Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director General

1000 hits

WooWoo this little blog has surpassed 1000 hits. I am sure this is no great shakes in the ever competitive world of bloggers but it seems a number worth celebrating.

• $1000 a month could pay for a much librarian (HCL has only 2 polytechnic trained staff in the whole HCL system because we are not getting any government grant in aid to pay for a senior Librarian).
• 1000 new members could bring in $20,000 dollars in membership fees- WOW!
• If 1000 new members borrowed 2 books every month then we could get $5000 to $10000 every quarter from subscription fees. 

• 1000 children's books would make a big difference to a branch library and could encourage new members :-) 
• 1000 words is the length of a good short story to read to children.
• 1000 prayers might help. 

Thank you for helping me reach such a lovely number. 

You are AMAZING!    

                                                                                      

Yes YOU :-) 

Help from Ireland

Not content with helping the Children's Reading Tent at the ZIBF, Trocaire Zimbabwe and their head office in Maynooth, Ireland have gone and rallied their staff and sent 50 lovely children's books plus two wee book sets for the library. Smashing.

A huge and special thank you to Donny at the Zimbabwe office for fitting this small but heavy suitcase of books in his travel luggage. Not only kind but generous as when we travel out of Zimbabwe not only do we take a lot out with us to friend and family but we tend to come back with all the things we miss or can't afford here.

Another story box for a branch (Greendale maybe if we get enough volunteers?) is definately filling up. And the rest will be going towards Mount Pleasant Branch shelves as a flagship storytelling venue for HCL. We are making progress in revamping the children's section there. Artists have gathered for the reading corner, and volunteer library study students are being rallied to blitz the shelves. This will mean some empty looking shelves for a while BUT I know they will be quickly filled again with Gods Grace and the kind hearts of good people. I will keep you all updated.

Reading should commence next school term (we can only manage reading during the school terms at the moment of which we have three a year - Mid January to Early April/ May to August/ September to early December).

The timetable of reading will be organised the week of 9th September and hopefully we will be reading again from the 21st.