Favl news nov2020v1

1. Friends of African Village Libraries Newsletter December 2020
FAVL’s mission is to help create and
foster a culture of reading. Generous
donors and volunteers enable us to work
with local communities and non-profit
organizations to support libraries in
Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Uganda, to
develop innovative literacy programs
and to provide ongoing library staff
training.
As a 501(c)3 non-profit organization,
donations to FAVL are tax-deductible.
A team of North American volunteers
supports the FAVL paid staff in Africa.
Current fundraising priorities:
 Building an endowment for each of
the FAVL-supported community li-
braries.
 Renewing stock of locally-purchased
books by African authors.
 Producing more micro-books in local
languages and languages of instruc-
tion.
West Africa Director
Michael Kevane
Professor of Economics
Santa Clara University
mkevane@scu.edu
East Africa Director
Kate Parry
Professor of English
Hunter College
City University of New York
kateparry@earthlink.net
Address: P.O. Box 90533,
San Jose, CA 95109
Email: info@favl.org
Website & Blog: www.favl.org
Dear
friends
of
African
village
libraries,
FAVL
was
founded
in
2001
with
a
simple
mission:
to
help
village
libraries
in
rural
Africa.
Thanks
to
your
contributions,
FAVL
supports
38
libraries
in
Burkina
Faso,
3
in
Ghana,
and
the
Kitengesa
Community
Library
in
Uganda.
FAVL
also
supports
the
Uganda
Community
Libraries
Association.
Instead
of
a
long
essay
about
libraries
and
reading,
we
thought
this
year
we
would
have
three
photos
on
the
front
page.
So
here
they
are!
From
top:
Kids
in
Sherigu
library
discuss
books
with
coordinator
Paul
Ayutoliya;
Fun
with
dominoes!;
Young
women
in
Kongoussi
checking
out
books.

2. FAVL, in partnership with CESRUD (a local NGO) supports three
libraries in Upper East region of Ghana. CESRUD-FAVL Coordina-
tor Paul Ayutoliya has been an excellent leader, networking and initi-
ating programs. Here are just some of our accomplishments of 2020.
 Last year donors enabled refurbishment of the Gowrie-Kunkua
Library with some modest upgrades including repainting furni-
ture, fixing windows, and installing ceiling fans. Then in May
2020 an unusually strong wind storm at the beginning of the rainy
season blew the roof off the library. These things happen with sad
frequency to “tin roof” buildings; when the wind comes really
strong, at the right angle, the force is just too much. Community
members right away relocated all the books and furniture to a
church building, and donors and local authorities pitched in to
start reconstruction work. The FAVL blog has photos and details.
The building now has a new roof, and it looks like the library
should be open for the next school session in January.
 Libraries were closed from April-September due to COVID19,
but reopened with the new school year, with readers wearing
masks and using handwashing stations.
 The three libraries continue
to receive several thousand
visits per month. Night
visits for studying are espe-
cially frequent as there is
now electricity in the li-
braries.
 As seen on TV! The read-
ers of Sumbrungu library
were thrilled when a televi-
sion crew filmed a segment
about the library and it
aired on national television
a few days later. See the
segment at:
 https://youtu.be/3Wr1Ru-
WHIo
Kitengesa Community Library and Uganda Community Libraries Association
Update from Ghana libraries (Sumbrungu, Sherigu, and Gowrie-Kunkua)
 The Kitengesa Community Library has held a health camp for teenagers almost every year now since 2014, with top-
ics such as nutrition, prevention and treatment of HIV-AIDS, etc. The 2020 camp held in January with 20 partici-
pants introduced a session on cancer.
 New UgCLA coordinator Emmanuel Anguyo visited the libraries of Alea and Jinja. He is also in touch with libraries
that were supported by Book Aid International over the 2019-20 period. The reports are posted to the FAVL blog.

3. FAVL continues to produce locally-
authored books for Burkina Faso
Updates from Burkina Faso
The FAVL team in Burkina Faso based in Houndé multi-
media center continues to work with local illustrator Rob-
ert Bazoum, to produce short stories for young readers.
There are now 67 booklets available! The latest are Bouga,
the family savior; The contentious marriage of Sabie; The
mysterious sorcerer; and The inseparable friends. A book
about Covid19 was also distributed to all libraries. FAVL
donated about 400 copies of the books to the Lumière pour
enfants library in Houndé. They are especially useful for
group reading activities.
 A new library in Koho was inaugurated in January.
 Libraries closed during the March-August lockdown
due to Covid19. Library services have been normal
with several hundred visits per month typical for most
libraries.
 Numerous work sessions were held with mayors, rural
council staff, and councilors to ensure local govern-
ment participation in managing and supporting librar-
ies.
 FAVL restarted the BMP mobile library in Houndé in
January 2020, with Mr. Guienda Yacouba as anima-
tor. Yacouba worked almost the entire year, taking the
BMP out several times a week, until Covid19. He re-
started the BMP in August after the end of lockdown,
but then departed FAVL for work in the government
sector. A new animator, Bambio Jules, took over in
September, and has been doing a great job.
 Occasional workshops with librarians were held over
the year, include four in Tuy in January, June, Septem-
ber, and November, and several in Kongoussi and
Kaya for the northern librarians.
 Our local newsletter, Echos des bibliothèques, was
printed and delivered electronically every month of the
year.
 The U.S. Embassy in Ouagadougou continued to be a
valuable partner, supporting the Leaders are Readers
program for the 3rd year, donating high quality French
-language books, and also donating 12 large book-
shelves for the libraries.
 In partnership with Slovenian NGO Humanitas, FAVL
-BF director Sanou Dounko regularly visited the li-
brary in Secteur 21 of Bobo-Dioulasso, offering super-
vision and advisory services. The library is thriving.
 FAVL-BF initiated an occasional best librarian prize to
recognize some dedicated and high-performing librari-
ans. This year, the 40,000 FCFA awards have gone to
librarians in Rouko (Kinda Robert), Rollo (Kinda
Adissatou), Bougounam (Zebret Moumini), Pobe-
Mengao (Konfé Hamidou), and Niankorodougou
(Ouattara Karidja).
 The library in Boni received a gift of 148 children’s
books from the former mayor, Bondé Makhan Patrick;
in August the library of Dohoun received a donation of
several hundred books from a local development asso-
ciation.
FAVL mourns the loss of three friends:
our colleague David Pace will be sorely
missed, especially in his ‘second home’ of Bé-
réba village; supporter Penelope Hartnell
always kept up on news from Burkina Faso;
and librarian Konfé Hamidou, co-founder of
Pobe-Mengao library, leaves behind his fam-
ily and village, already traumatized by ter-
rorism.
FAVL-BF director Sanou Dounko went for a walk in
the urban park Bangre Wéogo and saw a crocodile!
That may have been the real news of 2020.

4. NONPROFIT ORG
US POSTAGE PAID
SAN JOSE, CA
PERMIT NO. 1014
Friends of African Village Libraries
P.O. Box 90533
San Jose, CA 95109-3533
Current Resident or
Mobile library, Burkina Faso The mobile library
in Houndé was generously funded by Penelope
Hartnell, who sadly passed away in October. We
remember her fondly— a real friend to schools and
libraries in Burkina Faso and Mali.