School and Community Library Development, A Manifesto.
By Jeffrey Dow
A common-sense, yet commonly overlooked fact first needs to be considered: no nation on earth has ever lifted itself out of the cycle of poverty without a literate civil society. The keys to literacy are multi-faceted; however, a basic pillar of literacy must be the access to the resources that will facilitate and garner intellectual change for the involved classes. These resources are often unavailable or inaccessible to those who would benefit most from them. Thus, the drive to bring effective and change making educational resources to the Global South has caught the attention of many well-meaning global citizens. I hope for the points discussed in this library development manifesto to be used as a future guide for those well-meaning souls walking the noble path of involvement and facilitation with literacy development and promotion in the developing world. Progress in this key area of the human development index is both critical and critically lacking in most development communities; effective access is absolutely key for societies to lift themselves from the cycle of breaking poverty that is the direct result of a lack of educational resources providing the option for educational advancement in this globalized world. Making the most effective use of these resources is critical in closing the literacy and digital divides that subjugate so many in this world to futures without the option of self-enrichment, self-engagement, and the home-grown economic advancement that results from a literate society.
Main Points for Discussion/Extrapolation
Outside organizations, despite the best intentions and resources CANNOT do everything. Simple to see, groups are quick to pick up on this tidbit of common sense, but hard to implement. I have seen many examples of this leading to failure and a complete waste of resources on libraries never used, turned into “Book Mausoleums” (more on this later). Outside/International organizations can provide the tools only to facilitate literacy-the space, the materials, the technology; however, if these are not FULLY complimented by strong, local, involved teams/partners, they are a complete waste, and better left at home. Save the shipping costs, seriously. Organizations can provide the fertilizer, if you will, but not the seed/sapling. Outside organizations can help to water the seed/sapling, can help to supply fertilizer to make it mature, but the soil must be local. The fundamental task is local ownership. Concerned local ownership.. So, the delicate balance on this point is strong local ownership with a constant push for utilization from all involved teams; community groups, school administration, teachers, and the students themselves. Irrational fears on the eventual breakdown must be dispelled, and wear and tear shown to be perfectly alright.. More on this at #2.
KEEP THE DOORS OPEN!!! This will be the biggest struggle encountered (after the initial setup and placement of materials). As already mentioned above, the most common ailment of new resources being introduced into developing communities is under-use. This is one of the biggest shames that I have encountered. I have seen locals all over the world eager to “own” a project, to “own” new computers or new books, that will never be used out of fear that they will be damaged, out of an irrational over-concern (which, of course, must be balanced with a disregard for precious commodities). Resources not being used might as well stay at home. Save the shipping costs. I have told our own library staffs that if the books turn to dust in 4 years due to overuse, that is GREAT!!! We will be more than happy to supply new materials if this is the case. One of the most disappointing experiences that I have had, both here in Nepal and in other countries, is walking into facilities that are obviously suffering from under-use. What a complete shame this is. This point, after local handover of resources, must be worked on with a combination of training of teachers/staff/community members of effective utilization of the resources, as well as the partnering, mentioned above, with proactive, concerned, assertive, and, not to be bigoted by any means, but hopefully younger female authority figures, who simply tend to make better partners in library development than men (with obvious and glaring exceptions, of course). If a strong community group is present, perfect. Bring them on board. If a proactive school administration is present, perfect. Bring them on board. Whatever it takes to keep the doors open and to keep the materials accessible to those for whom they were intended.
Location, Location, Location. The obvious partner for our libraries is with the small local schools, whether they be at the primary or secondary level. These locations are tailor-made for libraries, for obvious reasons. I am still not too sure why some organizations choose to build stand-alone locations, far from students centers, and tag them as “community libraries.” Of course, they might have success if the community is truly on board. But these run the much higher risk of becoming community white elephants, trophy rooms that fail under the weight of point #2. The libraries should be going where they are needed most, where they can get the most foot traffic from a captive audience. The space should be donated by the school or by the community to house the library, in the spirit of co-habitation, or coordination. In putting libraries into school locations, there are the same pitfalls listed-this is not a guarantee that they will be used. I have seen a great library put into a stellar location with a strong school leader fail. There are simply many other factors to also contend with (which will be discussed). However, the visibility provided by a school location will only help the chances of success, and will provide teachers with a great resource to use in their classes (see #4).
Making the most of the resources. To have shelves packed with books and learning materials that kids can come in, leaf through, and occasionally check out is fantastic. However, how can the materials be used to their maximum benefit, especially when the library is located in a school setting? This might seem like common sense, but rarely have I a library truly being used to its potential. The issue here lies in teacher training, and the implementation of simple graphic organizers. Teachers need to be trained to understand that they can use the materials present to both supplement and compliment their curriculum. While outside reading is great, and should be encouraged, many of the books can serve a greater purpose as PART of the classroom. I first encountered the difficulties in this during my time in the Peace Corps. After setting up a small school library, I was given approving nods, the kids were coming in during lunch and free periods to read and check out books, but none of the other teachers were making any use of the reams of books available. Instead, due to lack of training and autonomous mandate, they stuck to their tried and true (and often weary) ways and did not venture in. Bringing in basic graphic organizers (copies to be added to and posted on the Magic Yeti Site as part of the upgrading and open-sourcing of all this information), such as a basic “Who-What-When-Where-Why?” or a “Make a story from the picture” or a “Personal Connections” sheet can make the difference between the kids picking up those precious copies of National Geographic and making use of them, if even for the pictures to support their English Language development, and the magazines sitting and turning to dust with disuse. I sat for several days with both teachers and community members to instill this point at the recent library opening-and always came back to the same basic tag line-How can we make the most of what we have? How can we get the kids to utilize what we have to build their literacy? Books look great on a shelf, but they do nothing if they are not effectively utilized. This point is an absolute KEY, and it will be an ongoing challenge, something that needs constant reinforcement and training and building upon.
Materials. Simple. Local. Games. These three keywords hold in them the three most important branches of what the materials going into a new library, or supplementing an existing location, should consist of. It is our disposition, coming from the developed world, to load up a bunch of English books and ship them over. However noble this goal, and expensive the shipping costs, the materials are often not the most applicable to local situations, especially in remote, rural schools, where even primary language literacy is low. Many outside organizations, (not to name any names) exist as charitable write-offs for big book publishers and other corporations, and thus, I have seen shipments sent half way around the world consisting of quarterly reports for 1985 and high end consumer catalogs and the like; this is such a waste of energy, the tax write-off savings to the international companies aside. In English fiction will be a challenge for many students, especially at the primary level, in developing countries to comprehend. It is necessary to have some of these materials, but they should not make up the bulk of the books. The bulk needs to be basic level English books, local language books (more on this later in its own point), and some of the great literacy games that are available on the market. These are fantastic resources that, though a bit pricy, can really pay dividends for youth literacy. Games such as Gnu, Guess Who?, Connect Four, Rat-a-Tat-Tat, and Shape-By-Shape are outstanding educational resources and the kids simply go crazy for them.
Local language materials. An absolutely essential item that is often overlooked. Remember: to build second language literacy, primary language literacy must first be developed. A strong foundation in primary language literacy will exponentially help the acquisition of a secondary language. Additionally, this plays into the essential role of preserving and strengthening local traditions and culture that should be a keystone of any library project. Only when local tradition and culture is given its paramount role will education and literacy be ultimately beneficial to a community and country. Too often have these aspects been overlooked in favor of a “Western-dominated” educational campaign. Education and educational materials must play a supportive role in maintaining and strengthening local customs, culture, and values. And thus, there are many home grown publishers of great literature that should be tapped into; not only are these materials often cheaper than books from the West, but they save much money in shipping, and also support the local economy of a country and thus support the perpetuation of local printing and publishing. I have worked extensively with the great Room to Read Nepal, which has turned into one of the largest publishers of childrens books in the country, growing from its original mandate to fill a critical gap in Nepal; others great examples include Ethiopia Reads and The African Books Collective. These organizations are doing tremendous work and should be supported whenever possible, and tapped into for help and information, as they can make great local partners. Many of the books deal with cultural issues and traditions unique to different areas and regions, and thus, not only are building local language and foreign language literacy (many are in both the local language and English), but also strengthening local culture. Absolutely essential.
Organization of Materials-Nuts and Bolts of Setting Up: The materials that have been brought into the library need to be organized in a way that maximizes their utilization for both the students and the teachers who will using the location. If the materials are not accessible, not visible, or are facing in the wrong direction, they are as good as useless, and all of the other hard work that has gone into the library will be undone. Shelving needs to be low; lower level materials need to be low; bindings need to face outwards. In the Magic Yeti Libraries, we utilize a 1-5 labeling system, which is extremely simple and effective. I have witnessed the deployment and failed implementation of advanced Dewey Decimal systems in rural library locations-my first question is why? Why is this necessary? Is it only serving to confuse the local populations for the sake of continuity with an educational system from another land that has no relevance for local applications? Keep is simple! Either a simple numbering system-1: beginner, 2: low beginner, 3: intermediate, 4: young learner, 5: reference (which then needs to be categorized and separated) or a color coded system that compliments this numbering system is the best way to organize the materials and to make them accessible and user friendly for the targeted groups.
