Book Aid International is working with Sri Lanka's National Library Service and Documentation Board (NLDSB) to restock public, community and school libraries affected by the tsunami. Around 39 public libraries were damaged and 23 were completely destroyed. With funding from Pearson and Bloomsbury publishers, we are helping to rebuild these key community resources.
The rebuilding of community libraries has been geared towards supporting child readers and supporting the rebuilding of the coastal economy and businesses. In particular we have been providing vocational material in areas such as jewellery making, crafts and tourism, and aquaculture material to support fishermen to help them rebuild their livelihoods.
NLDSB has set up book box schemes and tent libraries to relief/transition camps to deal with the crisis, where many thousands are now housed until permanent resettlement can take place. We are supplying books to meet the immediate needs among the many displaced persons living in the camps, in particular offering books for children whose education has been disrupted.
NLDSB also have a number of special projects, including storytelling activities with orphans and the publication of a range of special books that also aim to give orphaned children hope, courage and confidence to help them overcome the psychological trauma they have suffered.
Book Aid International have also provided grants for the purchase of Sinhalese and Tamil books to ensure that locally appropriate material is available for readers.