Donated books being sold in Zimbabwe

According to a SW Radio Africa correspondent, some textbooks donated by UNICEF to schools in Zimbabwe are being sold in the streets of Harare. This is not surprising as the distribution of these books has been driven by the desire to produce quick results without proper planning. A mass distribution programme without adequate safeguards has its risks.

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Additional players in library and literacy projects

When ZLDT was launched in 2010, most NGOs involved in literacy and library projects had gone into oblivion. We publicised that the situation was a catastrophe and a national disaster. It is therefore pleasing that attention has been given to literacy promotion activities in Zimbabwe since 2010.

Developing libraries and promoting literacy at national level is a massive undertaking. Impact can only be noticed if there are more individuals and organisations involved. UNICEF have since 2010, coordinated a multimillion programme to supply all schools with textbooks. It is not known however if the beneficiary schools have systems and mechanisms for securing and managing the textbooks or libraries.

There is now “Zimbabwe Reads“. ZLDT welcomes Zimbabwe Reads on stage whose mission is to promote reading.

Zimbabwean government, donors launch $85 million education fund for secondary schools

UNICEF seems to be very sympathetic to Zimbabwe’s children. Last year, they funded the Ministry of Education to provide textbooks to every child in primary school ($50 million). They are now focusing on providing textbooks to over 2 300 secondary schools working in partnership with the government.

This is a good development for Zimbabwe’s children. However there is a need to intimate and encourage UNICEF and government to go beyond just purchasing textbooks. There is need to provide resources for every school to have a library with a librarian. It may seem a pipe dream but this is required in order to foster wider information literacy.

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Why Libraries in developed countries don’t donate books

Many libraries in developed countries have plenty books to dispose from their collections for various reasons. Librarians also know it would be better to donate the books to more deserving communities in other parts of the world. However the logistics for book donations in addition to policies imposed by employers make this wish a costly exercise.

A University Library has recently used a book collection agent, who in turn sale the books through Amazon and then reward the library with approximately 20p per book. However the Librarian was phoned by another library in London after one of the books was found with a person who had bought the book, but the security tag had not been removed, thus triggering an alarm. The process of preparing the books for collection by the Agent involve removing idenity tags where possible, placing the books in boxes and arranging their collection, more costly than the 20p paid by the Agent. In such a scenario, most libraries would rather place their unwanted books in recycling bins.

More reasons why libraries chose to burn unwanted books rather than donate them, read .

Book donations to Africa investigated

A UK Scholar has written an interesting account of how much impact the solicited and unsolicited book donations contribute to literacy in developing countires. The study however focuses on observations and interviews while the researcher was in a school library in Malawi.

Questions for investigation include:
1. Does reading have a role to play in a traditionally oral culture?
2. How relevant is donated book stock to library users?
3. How is library stock used and, in light of this, what impact does it have?
4. How is reader development supported?

It is intriguing that in many cases the receiving library picks titles based on speculation. DOnors like Book Aid International send out a needs assessment questionnaire for local librarians to complete. However the form appears long and complicated, as such it is not surprising that completion of such forms is not done following proper needs assessment. There is a desire to recieive quantities of books to fill the empty shelves, thereby compromising quality.

To read the full report, clek here.

Library and Information Research, Volume 35 Number 110 2011