Grace is a 10-year-old girl who is deaf, she can’t hear nor can she talk or sign. The children call her "chibulu" which means "deaf person" in the local language, Cinyanja. Every time she visits the library alone or with friends, she knows she firstly needs to sign her name on the sign-in sheet in the Reading Room, because she always asks for the pen, using basic hand signals. Despite her silent communication, she participates in almost every library program; it really amazes all of us, as library staff.
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The first day in any new environment can be a pretty scary experience, expectations and anxiety are high, but the biggest fear of them all is “am I going to fit in?”
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Last week, I got the chance to spend a few hours in our Fountain of Hope Library in Kamwala.... During my time at the library, I struck up conversation with Michael.* Michael told me his story in considerable detail and it was even more affecting because he is from my hometown up on the Copperbelt.
Read MoreIt’s back to school season and the Ngwerere Lubuto Library is not short of the excitement from the children. So, we've chosen to call it "Back to Lubuto" season.
Read MoreOne of the joys of visiting a Lubuto Library often is seeing familiar faces. The experience is enhanced by interacting with people you’ve seen around but never really got the chance to talk to. Under normal circumstances, this should be a happy experience but my meeting Naluyele for the first time actually had the opposite effect. It made me quite sad.
Read MoreI run into lots of people in Zambia who ask me what I'm doing here. It's a fair question, and so I tell them: I'm a librarian-in-training, conducting collection evaluation research in children’s libraries. And more than once now the person I'm talking to has looked at me with bemusement and a little bit of pity and said, "A librarian? But here we don't have a reading culture."
Read MoreI couldn’t wait to meet Zefe and Nolasco when I first heard their story from Brenda at Fountain of Hope regarding how they “stole” school.
Read MoreThe other day there was a girl sitting in the insaka. The insaka is one of the library buildings, a small, round, open space where children often gather. It's a "lobby" of sorts,
Read MoreI am one of those weird people who loves public speaking. I find it invigorating. Even more than public speaking, though, I love reading. So it comes as a surprise to no one when I say that I love storytimes-- they are public reading, shared experiences in which I can make a story I love come alive for a group of children.
Read MoreWhen I worked in Lubuto's D.C. office, I spent a fair amount of time captioning photos that other people had taken in the libraries. Looking through those pictures was always fun-- seeing the big smiles, the crowds of children watching or participating in drama performances, and the teen artists bent over their masterpieces.
Read MoreJust a few weeks left to contribute to Thomas's professional education! As Lubuto is committed to contributing any remaining amount needed for the coming academic year, every donation, large or small, means more of Lubuto's funds can go towards our direct library services.
Read MoreLibrary users at Ngwerere Lubuto Library have been using Wikipedia for Schools and the World Book Encylopedia (digital) for over a month now. I’ve spent some time at the library observing the use of these e-resources and interacting with users.
Read MoreLast Saturday, at Ngwerere Library, LubutoDrama members performed a play inspired by Umba Soko's Who Saved ThePrince in which a group of village elders save a prince from a big snake.
Read MoreLubuto has begun a campaign on Indiegogo to support our Library Services Advisor, Thomas Mukonde, earn his Masters in Library Science at the University of Illinois. Building local ownership and professional capacity is central to Lubuto, and crucial to improving a sustainable future for public libraries in Africa as spaces for education, community and development.
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