The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

It is not African, and I haven't read the book yet, but I do give myself license to write a short entry about the film by Julian Schnabel based on the book by Jean-Dominique Bauby. I would rather not say anything about what it is about, since I can think of nothing better than to have the privilege of watching this film without knowing in advance what happens. But even knowing (as I did) it is still remarkable and heartily recommended. Trust me. Helps if you're a francophile of course.

It makes me think. The Gates Foundation, I heard from a friend, is sponsoring macroeconomists to spend time in Africa to try to come up with solutions to solve problems. A very strange approach. Everyone understands that African polities are seriously messed up. One reason they are messed up is because civil society has few powerful tropes to combat the "leader", who basically says, "Don't even think about crossing me, I will put you in jail, and besides, if you did cross me and succeeded, the other guys behind me or you yourself would be even worse than I am." In a poor desperate society, where everyone knows how easy it is to lose in one day of violence the asset they've worked for years to acquire (a store, a bicycle, a mobilette, a car, a cow) the value placed on order is consequently immense.

Wouldn't Julian Schnabel be able to help with a little creative non-destructive disorder? Isn't African civil society likely to benefit more from visiting artists, poets, musicians, writers spending more time with their peers in Kigali, Nairobi and Brazzaville? Than from macroeconomists, I mean. Of all people.

(Insider comment: Is this a delayed reaction to Thomas Sargent's lag operators and inverting matrices that was inflicted on me like a punishment Year 1 of Ph.D. program? ;-)

Libraries are Key to Building Local Economic Base Says New Study

If true for U.S., imagine relevance for village Africa? Here's the link to the study, and an excerpt:

Public libraries build a community’s capacity for economic activity and resiliency, says a new study from the Urban Institute. Making Cities Stronger: Public Library Contributions to Local Economic Development adds to the body of research pointing to a shift in the role of public libraries -- from a passive, recreational reading and research institution to an active economic development agent, addressing such pressing urban issues as literacy, workforce training, small business vitality and community quality of life. ... As the strong correlation between investments in early literacy and long-term economic success is documented, public libraries are expanding beyond their traditional story time services, engaging in high-impact strategies with community partners. They are leading public awareness campaigns, reaching new mothers with materials and resources that promote reading early and often. Extensive community-wide training on early literacy with home and professional child care givers is increasing levels of school readiness and success. From Providence (RI) to San Luis Obispo (CA), public libraries are reaching young children and families in diverse neighborhoods. These services are the first link in a chain of investments needed to build the educated workforce that ensures local competitiveness in the knowledge economy.

Children's book Sikulu and Harambe

Steve Cisler

I'd like to write just a few words about Steve, but feel at a loss given the expanding circle of good friends of his who are writing remembrances. See, for example, this entry from boing boing that also gives a list of some other entries. I met Steve quite recently when he came to work at the Center for Science, Technology and Society at Santa Clara University. As a librarian he immediately offered wise counsel for our very small Friends of African Village Libraries project... Discussions with Steve were always hands-on... one day when talking about the pros and cons of computers in libraries in rural Africa, we'd end up exploring his OLPC computer. Another time, talking about making micro-books, a subject dear to both of us, he returned the next day with a little cut-and-paste do-it-yourself-through-folding book he had started exploring. I think he got a serious case of "West Africa/Peace Corps remembrance fever" with me, since I get to go to Burkina Faso so much. But he always approached things with equanimity- a plain-spoken, this is the way the world is quality that I found very appealing. The last time I spoke with Steve he told me he was quite ill, but I didn't appreciate just how much. But his tone was melancholy, and when I went home that afternoon it was a beautiful slightly stormy day, and two palm trees outside my home window were swaying in a way that reminded me of a Hollis Frampton movie I'd seen long ago. Looking for the movie online, I came across this clip of Hollis Frampton's short movie Gloria!, which I think perfectly encapsulates all the complex feelings we have about saying goodbye to a life well-lived and a person well-loved.

Writing at the periphery of literature

I gave a quick read to an interesting short book chapter:

Orthopraxy, Writing and Identity – Shaping lives through borrowed genres in Congo, by Jan Blommaert, in Jim Martin and Ruth Wodak (eds), Re/Reading the past, Amsterdam, 2003, 177-194.

Blommaert presents two texts written by Congolese sometime during the 1970s-80s. One is a kind of autobiography, the other a piece of history by a relatively well-known Congolese folk-painter Tshibumba Kanda Matulu. Both suggest how people without much formal education can nevertheless engage in literacy practices... but neither work was intended for mass publication- they were each intended for a "single" reader... makes one wonder how many books are out there unproduced...

Carole Bloch... interesting literacy activist - scholar in South Africa

I just stumbled across this summary of her dissertation. She seems to have enormous energy, producing children's books and cogent analysis... one extract:

One of the challenges we face in situations of scarcity is that every effort seems to be only a drop in the ocean, but at the same time a precious drop, and there is thus a tendency to try and achieve all things with each bit of material produced. We have to achieve a balance between allowing for free creative expression and making appropriate decisions that reflect considered values, positive role models and balanced perspectives for gender, age, rural-urban setting, disability, health, religion and so on. This is not to be politically correct, but a recognition that if we are to offer ways for all children to discover the joy of reading and come to experience it as personally meaningful and satisfying, they have to be able to find something of themselves in the text. It is when stories, including both their written and visual texts, are able to reach children at an affective level, ?in a warm emotional context? (Frost et al 2005:63) that they wield their magic and power. Sometimes rough, but authentic examples of the beginnings of this process exist in stories for young children. Brave Little Cat 2003), which arose from the first writers and illustrators workshop that I initiated and facilitated on behalf of PRAESA (see Appendix 1), tells a story about little Ra-cat, who had a lot to cope with:

Ra-cat felt sick as if there was a big storm going on in his stomach.
He didn’t know what to feel first.
Anger, sadness or loneliness.
And it was all his mom’s fault (Maqeba 2003:2).

His mom was drunk and didn’t care for him and he had to bare the derision of his
teacher and classmates when he came to school dirty. But he finally found friendship and a home with Chicky, whose mother took him under her wing, saying, “A young cat like you shouldn’t be alone with all his sorrow” (Maqeba 2003:22). It is a compelling story because it is written and illustrated from the heart of the author, Mzamo Maqeba and it speaks to the themes of innumerable childhoods, which can be dealt with in a story in powerful but subtle ways.

Now I want to read it!!!!

An Intro to Wole Soyinka & Death and the King's Horseman

Books for Niankorodougou

FAVL was pleased to be able to help the library of Niankordougou with two boxes of books, from the 65 donated by the Burkinabe Ministry of Culture... this is FAVL in action, as a support for community libraries! Pictured from left are Meghann Coughlin, Peace Corps volunteer, Moussa Ouattara, niankordodougou librarian, and Viviane Nabie, FAVL rep in Ouagadougou.

David Pace and Kathy Knowles photo exhibit...

Just a few quick shots from FAVL Treasurer Deb Garvey...

Available for free download... reader development in Africa

Reader Development and Reading Promotion: Recent experiences from seven countries in Africa

I browsed through some of the chapters online- pretty spotty in terms of quality, unfortunately. But great as an introduction and way to get some ideas. The publisher's blurb:

Reader development activities by public libraries in different regions of Africa are examined through a case study approach. Reading has a crucial role to play in creating independent learners, and in helping people understand themselves and others better. Although the promotion of books and reading has long been an activity carried out by libraries, the recognition that librarians need to be actively involved in the reading development of children, young people and adults is a recent development. Among the programmes included are books for infants, reading competitions, reading tents, reading enrichment schemes, book-based literacy instruction, women's reading corners, promotion of reading to adult learners.

The publication of this book is the result of requests made by participants at a workshop on Reader Development and Reading Promotion, held during the Standing Conference of Eastern, Central and Southern African Librarians (SCECSAL) in Johannesburg in April 2002. Financial assistance has been made available through The Carnegie Corporation of New York's current programme supporting the development of public libraries in Africa.

Meghann's blog for Niankorodougou library

Peace Corps volunteer Meghann Coughlin just created a library blog which she will be posting regular updates to.... check it out.

This speaks to a broader project we are slowly undertaking at FAVL, which is to get every community library in Sub-Saharan Africa mapped onto Google Earth, and linked to a library blog like Meghann's, so that ultimately anyone, anywhere, who wants to be a "friend" of a small community library in Africa can look up the community libraries in the geographic area and also read blog entries and comments to find out how the libraries are doing. And then.... once the libraries themselves are electrified and connected to the Internet, the libraries can use the tool to "associate" amongst themselves. If Jeffrey Sachs is the winner of the "my idea is right and will come to pass" race, then all should be in place by 2015. If Bill Easterly wins the race, then 2030. If Paul Collier is right, then the bottom billion that we are talking about here can't expect to live in the world of information flowing freely until 2050.... I'm a Collierite, so am fully committed to being there in 2050 for the virtual ribbon cutting ceremony.

Not at all bad French novel by Yasmina Reza - Adam Haberberg

As the New York Times review suggests at the end, this novel can be read in about three hours. Basically a variant of L'Etranger... what are we doing here on this earth? How do we achieve meaning in our lives? Not sure that there was much wisdom in the end, but it's a good read in terms of posing the question. Reza had a short profile in The New Yorker- she's apparently just written a 'campaign trail' book about Sarkozy, whom she followed around.

65 boxes of books on the way....

The Ministry of Culture of Burkina Faso, through the offices of the National Library of Burkina Faso, donated 65 boxes of French books, a mix of used and new books, to the five libraries supported by FAVL in the province of Tuy. Here's the photo of the presentation of the donation. There's a check with the books too, but that's still winding its way through the bureaucracy. FAVL and the five libraries are very grateful to the Ministry of Culture. It's really rewarding to see the Ministry rewarding our local-international NGO partnership. We hope it is just the beginning of a productive relationship. Featured in the photo are FAVL representative Viviane Nabie (first from left) and FAVL regional coordinator Koura Donkoui (third from left), along with representative from the National Center for the Reading and Culture (CENALAC), Madame Zoungrana Laurence (fourth from left) and a representative of the National Library, BANSERNE Stéphane (second from left).

[in French, from the monthly librarian meeting in Burkina Faso] Rappel des taches gerants entretien des bibliothiques

Ce volet a été exposé par OUEDRAOGO Bibata gérante de la bibliothèque de Koumbia. Elle s’est inspirée du manuel du bibliothécaire pour rappeler tout d’abord les tâches des gérants avant de s’attarder sur la question entretien bibliothèques. A ce sujet, elle a parlé de la propreté de la bibliothèque et de la cour, le rangements des livres la consécration des archives, la mise à jour des cahiers de travail. Ensuite la parole a été donnée aux participants d’apporter des compléments, des suggestions sur la question l’entretien de la bibliothèque. Sur ce point, les intervenants ont souligné que la propreté des lieux constitue la première image du gérant. La première impression d’un visiteur est relative à ces aspects. Il est demande au gérant chaque bibliothèque d’en faire tâche préliminaire et quotidienne pour que ce lieu soit attrayant. D’autres ajouteront que "la propreté est l’image du gérant" les observations de CHELSEA sur la question ont porté sur le rongements des cartons et autres papiers qu’elle a rencontre dans certaines bibliothèques. Elle suggère une bonne organisation et dispersion des cartons et autre papiers déposés dans les bibliothèque. Selon les débats, la propreté atterrie les lecteurs. Des difficultés ont été évoquées quant à la salissure fréquente par les enfants en dehors des heures d’ouverture. Les uns et les autres ont trouve que cela est assez intéressant car ces mêmes enfants constituent des futurs lecteurs voir des lecteurs. Il n’est pas nécessaire de les chasser ou de les interdire plutôt de les sensibiliser pour avoir les bonne manières sur la propreté. Pourquoi ne pas organiser des journées de salubrité en les impliquant? Beaucoup d’entre eux pourraient acquérir des savoirs être dans le domaine de la propreté. En conclusion il est recommandé à tous les gérants de prendre toutes les dispositions pour maintenir les bibliothèques propres, organiser de temps en temps des journées de salubrité, enlever les toiles d’araignée.

Gender differences in reading in the U.S.

From a paper "Children reading fiction books because they want to" by Jan C. van Ours, January, 2006, available here through SSRN, the following summary of a paper by Tepper intrigued me because the surveys I have been doing in Burkina Faso find no big gender differences in reading habits of secondary school students.

Tepper (2000) investigates why in the US women are more than twice as likely to be readers of fiction than men. He has two competing hypotheses. One hypothesis is that women read more fiction because cultural norms and patterns of socialization emphasize fiction reading as an appropriate activity for young girls. The other hypothesis is that women read more because they develop the cognitive skills necessary to read at an earlier age than boys do and remain more proficient readers throughout their lifetimes. In other words, the two competing hypotheses are that women read more fiction either because they are encouraged to read by parents and teachers, or because they are better readers. Tepper concludes that the data provide strong support for the socialization theory and virtually no support for the cognition arguments: many American parents view fiction reading as an appropriate activity for girls and as inappropriate for boys.

And here is a nice blog post from Purple Motes on the subject.

Dirtbags?

An Initiative on Reading Is Rated Ineffective

Sam Dillon
The New York Times

Published: May 2, 2008

President Bush’s $1 billion a year initiative to teach reading to low-income children has not helped improve their reading comprehension, according to a Department of Education report released on Thursday.

The program, known as Reading First, drew on some of Mr. Bush’s educational experiences as Texas governor, and at his insistence Congress included it in the federal No Child Left Behind legislation that passed by bipartisan majorities in 2001. It has been a subject of dispute almost ever since, however, with the Bush administration and some state officials characterizing the program as beneficial for young students, and Congressional Democrats and federal investigators criticizing conflict of interest among its top advisers.

“Reading First did not improve students’ reading comprehension,” concluded the report, which was mandated by Congress and carried out by the Department of Education’s research arm, the Institute of Education Sciences. “The program did not increase the percentages of students in grades one, two or three whose reading comprehension scores were at or above grade level.”

The study, “Reading First Impact Study: Interim Report,” analyzes the performance of students in 12 states who were in grades one to three during the 2004-5 and 2005-6 school years. It is to be followed early in 2009 with a final report that will analyze additional follow-up data, the institute’s director, Grover J. Whitehurst said.

Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings and President Bush have consistently extolled Reading First as a highly effective program. But last year, Congressional Democrats reduced financing for the program for this year by about 60 percent, to about $400 million from the $1 billion it had received in several previous years.

On Thursday, Ms. Spellings had no comment on the study. Amanda Farris, a deputy assistant secretary of education, said in a statement that Ms. Spellings planned to look at the study “to inform our efforts,” and would “look forward to reviewing the final report.”

Ms. Farris said that one of the consistent messages Ms. Spellings has heard from educators, principals and state administrators “is about the effectiveness of the Reading First program in their schools and their disappointment with Congress” for cutting its financing.

Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat who is chairman of the education committee, and who has long criticized the program, said, “The Bush administration has put cronyism first and the reading skills of our children last, and this report shows the disturbing consequences.”

In 2006, John Higgins, the department’s inspector general, reported that federal officials and private contractors with ties to publishers had advised educators in several states to buy reading materials for the Reading First program from those publishers.

The Reading First director, Chris Doherty, resigned in 2006, days before the release of Mr. Higgins’s report, which disclosed a number of e-mail messages in which Mr. Doherty referred to contractors or educators who favored alternative curriculums seen as competitors to the Reading First approach as “dirtbags” who he said were “trying to crash our party.”

Post from Meghann Coughlin on the library in Niankorodougou, Burkina Faso

Things are going great in Niankorodougou. In January we formed the official library committee (pictured) which is made up of 6 members under the direction of the village mayor Mr. Drisa Ouattara. Below you will find a short bio of the committee members and attached are several pictures of the committee and new librarian. We have held somewhat regular meetings the past several months to discuss logistics of opening the library and promoting it throughout the community. In February, two representatives from Friends of African Village Libraries (FAVL) came to Niankorodougou to give a brief training on how other library committees function and to help select a librarian. The two representatives, Mr. Drisa and I interviewed three candidates for the job and selected a Mr. Moussa Ouattara. Mr. Moussa will be going to visiting another FAVL library in the village of Bereba the first week of May to complete an official librarian training.

This past week, the committee and librarian met to finalize all library regulations. I have also been in contact with the grant organization we are hoping will donate all the necessary funds to buy books and general materials. We should get their final decision the first week of May so keep your fingers crossed for us! If all goes well and we receive the funding, I will be heading up to the capital Ouagadougou with Mr. Moussa to purchase all of the books and materials. And then you can expect lots of pictures and information of our up and running library… Regardless of whether or not we receive funding from the grant organization, we still need to raise more money to cover operating costs. You can support the library by sending donations to Friends of African Village Libraries (www.favl.org) and also by spreading the word to family and friends. Thank you to everyone who has already made a donation. Every $1 makes a big difference.


COMMITTEE BIOS:
Name: Monsieur Ouattara Drissa (President)
Village: Niankorodougou
Work: Mayor of Niankorodougou
Name: Monsieur Ouattara Dramane (Vice President)
Village: Niankorodougou
Work: Cotton producer and Vice President of the Cotton Union
Name: Monsieur Ouattara Lassina (Treasurer)
Village: Tagouassoni (5 kilometers from Niankorodougou)
Work: Vender and member of the secondary school parents’ board
Name: Monsieur Ouattara Siaka (Account Manager)
Village: Niankorodougou
Work: Restaurant owner and member of the primary school parents’ board
*Not pictured in photograph
Name: Madame Ouattara Tene (Secretary)
Village: Fanifaso (4 kilometers from Niankorodougou)
Work: Rice producer and lunch cook at secondary school
Name: Monsieur Ouattara Issa (Secretary Adjoint)
Village: Niankorodougou
Work: Cotton producer

Thanks!
Meghann

Working paper on books

I like the last line of the abstract, so I put it in italics... ;-)

The Economics of Books
Marcel Canoy , Frederick van der Ploeg , Jan C van Ours
February 2005

The tensions between books and book markets as expressions of culture and books as products in profit-making businesses are analysed and insights from the theory of industrial organisation are given. Governments intervene in the market for books through laws concerning prices of books, grants for authors and publishers, a lower value-added tax, public libraries and education in order to stimulate the diversity of books on offer, increase the density of retail outlets and to promote reading. An overview of the different ways by which countries differ in terms of market structures and government policies is given. Particular attention is paid to retail price maintenance. Due to differences between European countries it is not a good idea to harmonise European book policies. Our analysis suggests that the book market seems quite able to invent solutions to specific problems of the book trade and that, apart from promoting reading, there is little need for government intervention.

The reference to this came from a short piece by Thorvaldur Gylfason, called "When Iceland was Ghana"

When Home Rule was achieved in 1904, most of Iceland’s impoverished population was already literate because literacy had been near universal since the end of the 18th century. Thus, Icelanders were well prepared for the modern age into which they were catapulted at the beginning of the 20th century. Not only is the general level of education made possible by near-universal literacy good for growth, but the social conditions – law abidance, for example – that make near-universal literacy possible are almost surely also good for growth. Exact measures of literacy in Iceland in 1900 are unavailable, but statistical information on the number of books published is available. In 1906, the number of books in Icelandic published per one thousand inhabitants was 1.6, which is more than in today’s Norway and Sweden. By 1966, the number of books published in Icelandic per one thousand inhabitants had climbed to 2.7, the current level in Denmark and Finland. By 2000, the figure for Iceland had risen to seven books published per one thousand inhabitants. It is possible that, with small editions of each book, small countries such as Iceland (population 300,000) have room for more titles. Nonetheless, these are impressive figures, and reading is good for growth.

Amazing that literacy was 100% in 1900 in Iceland (of course, a tiny population back then) while in Burkina Faso today (14 million people) literacy is probably less than 35%. Does make you realize the enormity of the colonial decision to *not* promote education, but also then raises the question that if the first paper suggests the book trade can do just fine on its own (and by implication the market for literacy?) then why did self-literacy did not grow even faster in many African countries, both pre-colonial and post-colonial. Perhaps the colonizers did more (less?) than be passive but rather actively discouraged literacy the way the American slaveowners did? I've not seen any historical studies on this question, but confess I've not looked very hard.

News From Uganda

FAVL Director Kate Parry writes:

FAVL’s affiliate in Uganda, UgCLA (Uganda Community Libraries Association) has now fully embarked on its activities. In January we hired a coordinator, Grace Musoke, who joined us in our first workshop, on how to write proposals for grants. Fifteen libraries sent two representatives each, and everyone spent two days talking about what would be appropriate projects for $1000 and how the projects might be evaluated and the money accounted for. Since then, thirteen libraries have submitted proposals to the Association, which has been given funds by the US Embassy in Kampala to distribute six $1000 grants. The proposed projects range from helping children to produce a reader in Luganda to training library users in computer skills. A small committee is assessing the proposals and will follow up with visits to shortlisted libraries. I am on this committee, so we asked the only FAVL-managed library in Uganda, the Kitengesa Community Library, not to submit a proposal. I am closely involved with this library and did not want to be caught in an obvious conflict of interest!

Nonetheless, there is news from Kitengesa too. In January the University of British Columbia sent funds that had been raised by a student volunteer organization named YouLead to Uganda to establish a computer centre as part of the library. The project necessitates a new building, and the library’s local board decided to include a community hall as well. This hall, when complete, will be used both for library activities and for other local functions, such as weddings, for which people will be expected to pay a fee and thus contribute to the cost of the librarians’ salaries. My husband, who was born and raised in the village, helped us to obtain the land, and the building’s walls are now up. Our major aim is to finish the work; it will require some $20,000 over and above the UBC grant, of which $10,000 has already been raised.

A special benefit is planned in New York on September 17 to raise the remainder; it will take place at Hunter College, City University of New York, and will feature Louise DeSalvo and Meena Alexander, two of Hunter College’s most distinguished writers. So if you are on the East Coast, please mark your calendar!

Stian has a blog!

And it's amazing. I liked this entry on education in Africa.... an excerpt:

Brock-Utne makes a compelling case for how African education systems are failing African youth through provision of inadequate and inappropriate knowledge through a language that is poorly mastered. When performing poorly in international standardized tests, the language issue is seldom taken into consideration. While many studies show very significant impacts on learning, international donors often press for the continuing use of colonial languages, and both the British Council and the Alliance Francaise lead an almost neo-colonial policy of donating equipment and textbooks on the condition that courses be taught in their languages, even at the first levels of primary schools.

Reminds me of a dissertation I am waiting to read...
Lavoie, Constance, Éducation bilingue et développement humain durable au Burkina Faso, Université McGill , PhD Études intégrées en éducation (Sciences de l’Éducation).

Community libraries in Indonesia

Stian Håklev, a recent graduate of University of Toronto, has just finished his amazing senior thesis on community libraries in Indonesia. These reading gardens are grassroots initiatives. Quite interesting... you can read for yourself. Stian is off to India this summer, for some more research on a literacy project there. We hope he'll head out to a FAVL program area next!

Mencerdaskan Bangsa - An Inquiry into the Phenomenon of Taman Bacaan in Indonesia
Since 2001, a movement of individuals, neighbourhood and community organizations and NGOs starting and running their own libraries has emerged in Indonesia. Called Taman Bacaans (TBs) - reading gardens - these simple libraries, often hosted in somebody’s house, or in a community building, provide easy and informal access to books, as well as frequent literacy programming. This thesis traces the historical heritage of these TBs back to the early renting libraries of peranakan Chinese in the 19th century, through Balai Pustaka and the public library movement under Sukarno. The modern TB emerges in the 1980s, the government attempts a wide-scale implementation of TBs in the 1990s, and a community movement finally emerges in 2001. Using interviews with informants and newspaper articles, blogs, mailing lists, and NGO and government reports, I describe the process of how the TB movement emerges in Bandung and Yogyakarta. I also identify a number of factors that enabled and supported the movement: inspiring individual role-models, “best-case” libraries, networks and the roles of Islam and nationalism. Finally I provide an overview of the situation today, combining government statistics with the results of a survey conducted in Jakarta, and show that there are three kinds of TBs: those set-up by national, regional or local government (TBMs), those funded by large-scale donors, and independent TBs grounded in the local communities. I conclude with a number of recommendations for government and donors.

Kunkua library in northern Ghana is now open

I'll write a little later about the generous donation that made this possible, but for now here are a few pictures (taken in northern Ghana by Lucas, FAVL/CESRUD library coordinator, so not great quality). This is the third library in the Bolgatanga area. Great job Lucas!

Photography exhibit coming up... MLK Library, San Jose

Please join us May 11 for a reception if you are in the Bay Area!

The Person in Front of You: Photographs from West Africa
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library 150 E. San Fernando St. - 2nd Floor, Exhibit Area	Sat, May 3 - Fri, Jun 20 All Library Open Hours
"The Person in Front of You: Photographs from West Africa," features photos by Los Altos-based photographer David Pace and Kathy Knowles of Osu Children's Library Fund in Canada. David Pace is a lecturer in art and art history at Santa Clara University. Pace's photos, taken during his 2007 stay in Bereba, a small isolated village in the West African country of Burkina Faso, capture aspects of daily life. They feature women as they go about making pottery, weaving cotton cloth in traditional patterns, and caring for children; children joyfully surround the village librarian during a weekly storytime or are profiled in thoughtful moments in front of their thatch homes; and men are observed fingering prayer beads, talking in the shade of a rare tree, or gathering for a community event. Kathy Knowles founded Osu Children's Library Fund (OCLF) over fifteen years ago to give young African children the joy of reading by providing access to storybooks. Knowle's photographs grew out of a desire to provide children with colorful books that reflect their own cultures and physical environments. Her beautiful color photos of children and adults in Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali and Tanzania give Westerners a flavor of the experiences and daily lives of a region far different in appearance, yet similar in the essentials, to their own. There will be a special opening reception on Sunday, May 11, 2008 from 4:00 - 6:00 PM on the 2nd Floor, Rooms 225/229 of the King library. For more information contact: Deborah L. Garvey at dlgarvey@gmail.com.

Summer reading "experiment"

I've mentioned before that we've got modest funding to "treat" 4th and 5th graders (the equivalent) with some summer reading programs in the libraries in Burkina Faso. We're thinking of doing a simple randomized block design. The blocks are the five villages- can't do anything about that. Each village will then have 30 kids or so receiving reading encouragement and a couple free books and some activities in the summer, 30 kids would be invited to an intensive two-week summer reading camp run out of the library, and 30 kids would participate in a summer 8-week book discussion group, reading a book a week and discussing it. The idea is to see how big the effect is from the more costly and challenging programs (in terms of management). We'd give pre and post reading tests and some socio-economic background diagnostics. Anyone out there done something like this? Any suggestions?

Top five do's in helping community libraries in Africa, IMHO

This is my wisdom so far, not based on any scientific Evaluation 2.0 techniques...

1. Do include a decent selection of books authored by local or regional authors. In all areas we are experienced with, readers are far more likely to pick up a book by an African author, with a cover illustrating an African situation. This applies especially to secondary school material. This means some of your budget should be allocated for that- a hard choice when some organizations are able to ship U.S. or European books with a net cost of $.50 a book, and the African book costs $3.00. But a book read 6 times is better than 6 books never read, right?

2. Do have a credible plan for paying the salary of the librarian and for supervising the librarian. We fix salaries according to the salary (plus benefits) for local primary school teachers. (Many FAVL librarians work half-time so they get half the primary school teacher salary.) The librarian should have the right incentives. If the librarian is a volunteer helping his or her community, that is a fine ideal, but the reality is that after the initial enthusiasm the librarian will likely only open the library when people come to his or her house asking for a particular book. The librarian needs to know that there will be frequent "inspections" and that the library must be kept in good working order, else the salary will be terminated and someone else hired.

3. Do buy furniture that is tailored for children. Very often the initial impulse of the local committee is to buy furniture and shelving for adults, since that is who they think will be using the library. But small chairs and tables, low bookshelves that face outwards (like sandwich boards) are very important for changing the look of the library.

4. Invest some time and money into wall decorations that reflect and promote local culture: masks, woven material, wall carvings. In some of our libraries we have small wall "shelves" with local statuettes that are sold in the capital city to tourists as souvenirs- people in villages often have never seen things like that!

5. Plan for the long-term. Ask yourself what this library can and should look like ten years from now. Are you going to be helping it ten years from now? If you are going to be a friend of the library, then your commitment is in good times (ribbon cutting ceremony and opening day dancing) and bad times (the tedium of the days when nobody comes to the library- hey, it happens!) and your responsibility as a friend is to make sure the librarian and library management committee get more involved, more trained, more capable, year on year.

Note the discrepancy between point 5 and point 2. For the library to be long-run successful, you need to be a long-term volunteer, a friend. The librarian needs to be a long-term employee. That's very deliberate. In the long term you will be earning as a resident of the U.S. $40K+ per year. You can afford to be hard-working and unpaid.

More Ian McEwan

Over the last couple days I read On Chesil Beach, a remarkable exploration of a wedding night gone horribly awry. This one should not be made into a movie, please don't do it. Don't sell the rights. Don't even think about it. It's all the interior monologue of the two protagonists. While somewhat lacking in verisimilitude (could they really have talked so little both being so intelligent?) I found however that it easily reverberated with my own experiences (nothing like the novel, but analogous). And in Burkina and Ghana, even simple interactions are so ripe for mutual misunderstanding.... not just with "westerners", but amongst people living in the same village for years. I love it when we're in the middle of a FAVL discussion and one of the librarians gives a quizzical look to one of the others, like, "I can't figure you out..."

Two resources on children's literature in English-speaking African countries

Lillian Temu Osaki has a website on children's literature and Africa Access has an online database of 1000s of children's book titles.

Publishing in Uganda

James Tumusiime of Fountain Publisher in Uganda was profiled a year ago in the Monitor, of Kampala.

But while his journalism days did eventually end, it is likely he will not be quitting publishing. "It [Fountain] has kept us going...the industry is now serious," he said. As we spoke that Wednesday, it was clear that although the figures still bother him--Germany has 4,500 booksellers and Uganda only 150, he said he finds comfort in the modest accomplishments of the past few years, developments that came from almost nothing, achievements he continues to seek. He considers Animal Farm his favourite book "because it brings out humanity the way we know it".

Literature of West Africa

A review by Alioune Sow of a recent book by Stephanie Newell, West African Literatures: Ways of Reading. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. 288 pp. appeared in the online journal African Studies Quarterly. Here's an extract:

Its strength lies in its important insights into existing interpretations and readings of canonical texts, or debates, as well as in its innovative and persuasive arguments. Newell’s careful discussion of “Popular literatures” gives a much-needed illustration of how the literary dynamism is ensured by local productions that “generate new types of selfhood” and activate new modes of reception. In the same vein, her chapter on the new feminism, which focuses on Werewere Liking, Calixthe Beyala, and Véronique Tadjo, explores the rejection by the three writers of outdated linguistic and normative codes to open to new expressions of “the new subjectivities of African women.” Furthermore, Newell’s discussion includes neglected problematics in the commentary of African letters, such as translation (chap. 5). She also revisits and rejects old paradigms, such as the exclusionary relationship between “written and oral genres,” which has been contradicted, as Newell demonstrates, by the works of the vibrant Nigerian “AlterNative poets” (chap. 8). Her chapter on “Marxism and literature” opens a crucial domain in the study of the history of African literatures by focusing on the dynamic debates about the affinities and divergences that make the ideologies of African literatures (chap. 10).

My fervent hope is that someday the village readers supported by FAVL are engaged themselves in the scholarly interpretations and debates captured in Newell's book.

Kathy Knowles' book in Dioula

FAVL worked with Kathy Knowles of Osu Children's Library Fund to translate into Dioula and print copies of her beautiful Red, Blue, Green and Yellow "I like..." books. Prof. Ada Giusti from Montana State University writes:

I just returned from a trip to Mali with my students. While we were in a village called Sanambele, I shared your beautiful books with the children and teachers. They were so appreciated! Children of all ages kept on asking me to see the books over and over again. They could read the words because they spoke Bambara. If you get on this link, you will see many pictures of Malian children reading the books (which I donated to the school of course).