Libraries around the world - Inquiry Blog Post #4

Creative Commons licensed image courtesy of GDJ on Pixabay

In researching global libraries, I came across the Beyond Access Bangladesh program, sponsored by IREX and Save the Children, and read about their work in libraries in Bangladesh. This program started by working with twenty libraries to develop library programs for children. Before this program started encouraging children to come to the library, the library had no activities for children and very few of the visitors were children. The pilot program libraries were given supplies for a children's area in the library as well as four Samsung tablets loaded with books and games. Librarians received training and worked with children to encourage them to visit the library. I found an evaluation of the Beyond Access Libraries Program in Bangladesh and it included infographics stating that children used tablets 60,000 times between November 2015 and June 2017 and the monthly average number of children visiting the library increased by sixty percent.

Ari Katz, IREX regional director for Asia, tweeted about positive results of the Beyond Access program

I'm happy to read about the changes in these communities and I hope the program continues to grow. It's always good to be reminded how lucky I am to have easy access to libraries with a wide variety of resources and programs aimed at children. An article in the Dhaka Tribune from February, 2018 stated that the ratio of public libraries to Bangladeshi citizens is one to 2.2 million. The article said there are seventy-one public libraries in Bangladesh. Coincidentally, that is the same number of public libraries as we have here in British Columbia, and our population is less than thirty times the size of Bangladesh's.

Excerpt from school newsletter, Spring 2015

Another project that I've come across on a more personal level centres around Shree Sundrawati Lower Secondary School in Nepal. Dr. Sara Shneiderman, a parent at my daughters' school in Vancouver, is a UBC professor who has been doing research in Nepal for over a decade. After the major earthquake of spring 2015, the village she knew so well was hard hit and many structures, including the school, were destroyed. Sara write about the devastation in a blog post for the University of Pennsylvania Press. Sara has been sharing the story with our school community here in Vancouver for several years and we have raised funds to help rebuild the school library through bake sales and book fairs. Our school has also given material donations in the form of books and clothing. Ideally, the rebuilt library would have funds to create a collection that is suited to the needs of the school community. I don't know how helpful any of our book donations are, but in this case, when the school has very limited resources, I believe they are happy to have something to work with. I hope that our school's financial contributions to the Shree Sundrawati School can be used to purchase books that are a better fit with the local community. Our school is only one of the groups working to help this school, and the Nepal Library Foundation has coordinated fundraising efforts that allowed the school to be rebuilt. I am glad to have a personal connection to this school in Nepal and I know it helps our students understand the situation better when their classmate tells them about her experiences in Nepal. Again, I feel grateful to have a well-stocked library in our school. We are very lucky.