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Newsletter #51 - January 2015
Click here for PDF version |
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| Our fourth library! |
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We are thrilled to announce that we have received a grant from USAID's American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA) program to build the fourth Lubuto Library! The ASHA award of nearly $250,000, with $100,000 co-financing from our American angel Judie Feedham, will support the creation of a Lubuto library at the Mthunzi Center, located in peri-urban Lusaka West. Our partnership with Mthunzi Centre builds on the key role they play in support of vulnerable youth and Lubuto's professional expertise, innovative programs and approaches, and extensive experience. Our relationship with Mthunzi dates back to 2006, and we are so pleased that this partnership has come to fruition to address the myriad needs of the many marginalized children and teens in their area.
ASHA is a unique USAID program in that it solely funds construction or renovation of buildings and purchase of commodities. Since construction of Lubuto libraries is central to LLP's mission, this is an excellent funding source for Lubuto, for our fourth and, we hope, future libraries. The Lubuto Mthunzi American Youth Library will be Lubuto's first with funding to purchase a carefully planned core book collection and install solar power. It is envisioned that this funding for book acquisition based on a balanced core collection will be an important model for libraries throughout the continent that are currently heavily dependent upon book donation programs and thus not able to develop collections that meet their user communities' needs.
USAID's ASHA program provides grants to schools, hospitals, and libraries abroad that demonstrate the ideas, innovations, and best practices of the United States in health and education. The awards go to organizations that represent the excellence and leadership of American institutions, so we are quite honored by this tribute to the quality of our work. Its inherent recognition that America's public libraries and librarians are among the best offerings the U.S. contributes to global education is good news to the library profession everywhere. American public libraries are a cornerstone of civic participation, information access and literacy, and public spaces for learning. This support from ASHA and Judie Feedham will help us further support local communities in these critical ways.
ASHA supports work that fosters civil society, inclusiveness, tolerance, innovation, and new technology. Through their many well-loved programs, outreach to the most vulnerable, and technological innovations, Lubuto libraries will continue to increase access to high-quality education, which, says ASHA Director Katherine Crawford, "ultimately strengthens a country’s workforce, lifts populations out of extreme poverty and creates resilient societies."
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| The next generation of Lubuto leadership |
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Thomas Mukonde represented Lubuto wonderfully at a colloquium in early January at San José State University’s iSchool. He reflected on the state of the library profession in Zambia and Lubuto’s mandate by the government of Zambia to provide expertise on youth services librarianship. Thomas is now back at the University of Illinois for the second semester of his MLIS program. A link to a recording of the colloquium should be available soon and we will publish the link on our website as soon as we receive it.
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Volunteer of the Month
Our January Volunteer of the Month is Carol Griffith. Carol has been a great volunteer with Lubuto since 2008. |
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Copyright © 2015 Lubuto Library Partners, Inc.
The Lubuto Library Project is exempt from U.S. Federal income tax as a public charity
under Section 501(C) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code. |
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