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Building a Community Library: Preliminary Case Report of Kwakupokela Library Lusangazi, Malawi

Building a Community Library: Preliminary Case Report of Kwakupokela Library Lusangazi, Malawi.

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Building a Community Library: Preliminary Case Report of Kwakupokela Library Lusangazi, Malawi

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  1. Building a Community Library: Preliminary Case Report of Kwakupokela Library Lusangazi, Malawi Mary Grace FlahertyThe School of Information and Library Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USAmgflaher@email.unc.eduWinner Dominic Chawinga Department of Library and Information Science, Mzuzu University, Malawi winnchawinga@gmail.com

  2. Warm heart of Africa • Smallest country in sub-Saharan Africa • Population – just over 17 million • 13 million in 2008 • Projected to hit 29 million by 2030 (UN, 2014) • One of poorest countries in world • 170 of 188 countries on Human Development Index • 80% below poverty line; less than US$1.25/day (~8 kuna) (UNDP, 2016)

  3. Malawi • 80% of population reside in rural areas • ~9% of country has electricity connectivity • ~10% have internet connectivity • one of the most densely populated, yet least developed countries

  4. Challenges to development • Economic instability • Corruption • High population growth rates • Poor health and educational outcomes • Limited connectivity • Literacy rate: 62.1% (male 69.8%; female 55.2%) • Major media outlets are radio and print newspapers (CIA Factbook, 2017)

  5. Collaborative Empowerment • Organizing within the community by leveraging community assets and strengths (Walter, 2004)

  6. Serendipity meets Collaboration • Our team • Diverse in expertise and cultural backgrounds • Common vision • Group Village Headman • Local Village Chiefs • Former headmaster • Mzuzu University (MZUNI) Department of Library Sciences • Lecturer and University Librarian • LIS students • Visiting Scholars from U.S. • Librarian and Nurse

  7. From May 2017- May 2018 • Kwakupokela Educational Trust (KET) created • Registered with Malawi government as NGO • Local lawyer volunteered his time • Overseen by Board • original team and 4 additional community members • Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with Mzuzu University • Gofundme campaign started • Volunteer enrolled in LIS certificate program • New books by African authors and publishers donated; $ for textbooks donated • New and old library books have been processed • LIS student volunteers performed the work • Leaking roof replaced • Drop ceiling installed • Inner walls painted • Wired for electricity • Doors are open

  8. Community support • The group village headman: “The library is something the community will cherish and utilize to the maximum; my village heads present here and myself will encourage our people to come and use this library.” • Traditional leaders donated the land on which the library building is located. • Three local volunteers are running the library. • Head teachers from local schools are encouraging students to use library regularly.

  9. Moving Forward • RQ1: What are the usage and circulation rates for the Kwakupokela Community Library? • RQ2: Can the Kwakupokela Community Library have a positive impact on literacy rates and standardized test scores for local schoolchildren? • RQ3: Can the Kwakupokela Community Library serve as a model for a collaborative approach to delivering library services in under-resourced areas? • RQ4: What are the challenges faced in running the Kwakupokela Community Library and what localized strategies are being used to address these challenges?

  10. Research plans • RQ1: data will be collected and recorded on attendance and circulation of resources • RQ2: baseline data on literacy rates and test scores will be collected through collaboration with local primary schools. Approx. one year later, test scores for 30 regular library users will be compared with 30 matched controls who are not library users. • RQ3: our hope is the model will be tested elsewhere in Malawi. • RQ4: data will be based on operational experience and user feedback.

  11. Winner Chawinga

  12. Thank you.

  13. REFERENCES Camble, Emmanuel. 1994. "The information environment of rural development workers in BornoState, Nigeria." African Journal of Library, Archives and Information Science 4 (2): 99-106. Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook 2017. “Malawi.” Last modified November 14. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mi.html Diso, LukmanIbraheem. 1994. "Information policies and government guidance in Nigeria." Resource sharing & information Networks 9 (2):141-155. Dutta, Renee. 2009. "Information needs and information-seeking behavior in developing countries: A review of the research." The International Information & Library Review 41(1): 44-51. Etebu, Abraham Tabor. 2009. "Information for rural communities: A solution for sustainable development in the Niger Delta. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/302/(accessed 26 May 2018). Hoq, KaziMostakGausul. 2015. "Rural library and information services, their success, failure and sustainability: a literature review." Information Development 31(3): 294-310. Harande, Yahya Ibrahim. 2009. "Information services for rural community development in Nigeria." https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/271/ (accessed 26 May 2018). Kaluwa, Ben. 2010. “Malawi industrial performance: What else is there?” Malawi Knowledge Network, 10th March, 2010. Sun Hotel, Malawi.

  14. Kempson, Elaine. 1990. "Rural community Information services: Guidelines for researching need, setting up services and evaluating performance." IFLA journal, 16(4): 429-439. Minkler, Meredith and Nina Wallerstein. 2012. “Improving health through community organizing and community building.” In Meredith Minkler (ed.), Community Organizing and Community Building for Health. (3rded). New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press. Momodu, Margaret. 2012. "Rural libraries and community development in Nigeria." International Journal of Basic, Applied and Innovative Research 1(3): 91-97. Mtega, Wulystan P., and Ronald Benard. 2013. "The state of rural information and communication services in Tanzania: a meta-analysis." http://41.73.194.142:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/1165 (Accessed 28 May, 2018). National Statistical Office. 2008. “Population and housing census”.Zomba, Malawi: National Statistical Office. National Statistical Office and ICF. 2017. “Malawi Demographic and Health Survey 2015-16”. Zomba, Malawi, and Rockville, Maryland, USA. Phiri, Austine, George T. Chipeta, and Winner D. Chawinga. 2018. "Information needs and barriers of rural smallholder farmers in developing countries: A case study of rural smallholder farmers in Malawi." Information Development: 0266666918755222. Talbot, Hugues. 1998. Information Needs of Rural Communities (Research Report). Newcastle Upon Tyne: School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Centre for Rural Economy, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne. United Nations. 2014. Malawi country profile. Retrieved from http://www.mw.one.un.org/country-profile/ (Accessed May 23, 2018) United Nations Development Programme. 2016. “The 2016 Human Development Report”. http://hdr.undp.org/sites/all/themes/hdr_theme/country-notes/MWI.pdf (Accessed May 23, 2018). Uzuegbu, Chimezie. 2016. "Effective information service delivery to rural dwellers in Sub-Saharan Africa: Whose job?" IFLA Journal 42(1): 49-58. Walter, Cheryl. 2004. “Community Building Practice” In Meredith Minkler (ed.), Community Organizing and Community Building for Health. (2nd ed.) New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press.

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