Book Aid International librarians Sandrine Coll and Beth Murphy travelled to Ethiopia in November on a training and assessment trip partly funded by the States of Guernsey Overseas Aid Commission. Here they briefly report on the work undertaken:
"We managed to pack a huge amount into our two-week trip, visiting over 30 different libraries in four regions, and facilitating a two day workshop in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. The workshop was attended by representatives from libraries and organisations promoting literacy in different regions and was focused on how to improve the targeting and distribution of books. Broadly speaking, this means ensuring that the needs of library users are properly identified so that the available books can go where they will be most useful. At the end of the workshop we drew up a draft agreement with our key partner organisations to ensure the best use of book donations in Ethiopia for the next three years.
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Sebeta reading room |
One of the true highlights of the visit was a trip to a community reading room in the village of Sebeta. Established in 1998, the local community has since taken full responsibility for running the reading room. We were delighted that the main library was bursting with school students studying hard, and the children’s library was full of enthusiastic children looking at picture books. The books we had donated were well used, and we were really pleased to see a good collection of locally published textbooks and stories.
We also visited the oldest university in Ethiopia, Addis Ababa University. The Acquisitions Librarian, Almaz Sahle, explained that with 44,000 students, seven faculties, 21 campuses and seven libraries, the books supplied by Book Aid International only go a tiny way towards meeting the need. However, they are very relevant - and so popular with students and staff that they are placed in the reserve section and only loaned out for short periods to increase access to as many library users as possible."
Beth Murphy, Deputy Head of Operations.
This is just a brief summary of what the trip achieved; for more information please contact Hannah Watson pr call 020 7733 3577.