Creative Commons image courtesy of
Pixabay
Looking into libraries
around the world and especially in developing nations was an interesting and
rewarding focus. One of the guiding questions stuck out to me, “should
libraries in developing nations rely on donations and weeded books from
developed nations?” Our school recently partnered with a local woman who works
in Ghana to send books weeded from our library collection to a school she
visits there. They had no library at all and she hoped to help build a
collection through contacts in the district. It was really exciting to see
photos of the boxes of books being delivered to a school room full of happy
children. Picture books are one thing, but I can see that there are two sides
to the situation when it comes to nonfiction texts. Is it ethical to pass along
outdated and possibly incorrect information? No, I think not. But I also read
William Kamkwamba’s book, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind where he
described his local library consisting of 3 shelves of donated books (evidently
weeded from somewhere). And look what an amazing story came from an outdated
text on electrical circuits.
Thinking
about equitable access to information and creating literacy opportunities in
developing countries brought me to a few different organizations that seem to
be taking huge strides forward to serve in need populations. Libraries Without
Borders, for example, looked for a way to engage and provide for a huge Rohingya
refugee population in Bangladesh. They used their specially developed Ideas
Boxes to equip youths with cameras to explore and create a digital interactive
map of the camp (https://www.librarieswithoutborders.org/rohingya-refugees-folktales-and-maps/). Opportunities like this give ownership to the kids
and teach useful digital skills. Another example of an organization working to
serve an in need population is Charmaghz (http://charmaghz.com/about/) , a mobile library that brings learning
opportunities to children in Kabul, Afghanistan. The article in School
Library Journal (https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=Marley-Dias-Allister-Chang-Among-ILAs-30-Under-30-Literacy-Champions) names the founder Freshta
Karim as a global literacy leader. Mobility seems to be a key aspect in
literacy leadership for developing countries, bringing learning opportunities
to populations. Digital access to information and using that information to
create your own meaning (like the digital camp maps created in Bangladesh) can
truly make a difference for people’s lives.
Works cited:
Charmaghz. (2018). About Us |
Charmaghz. Retrieved from
Ishizuka, K. (n.d.). Marley Dias,
Allister Chang Among ILA's ?30 Under 30? Literacy
Champions. Retrieved
from https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=Marley-Dias-Allister-Chang-Among-ILAs-30-Under-30-Literacy-Champions
Kamkwamba, W., & Mealer, B. (2015). The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Young
Readers Edition. London, England: Penguin.
Libraries Without Borders. (2019,
February 20). Rohingya Refugees : Folktales and
Maps | Libraries
Without Borders. Retrieved from https://www.librarieswithoutborders.org/rohingya-refugees-folktales-and-maps/
TED. (2009, September 23). William
Kamkwamba: How I harnessed the wind [Video
I appreciate your discussion about weeded materials being sent to developing nations. There are issues with this such as dated materials, cultural relevance, language barriers etc. However, as you point out with your example and embedded video there is also opportunity. What an inspiring example! You have listed some good organizations who are working toward increasing global literacy rates. A discussion of their challenges and successes may be useful.
ReplyDeleteNice research, you bring new perspectives. Thanks
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