Kitengesa Community Library

Kitengesa Community Library is a small and successful library in central Uganda. It is part of the Uganda Community Libraries Association^[2] and the Friends of African Village Libraries.^[3] It received international attention in October 2010 when BBC correspondent Mike Wooldridge did a special report on it for BBC News.^[4]

History

Starting in April 1999 with a box of books and 13 students, the Kitengesa Community Library has evolved into an innovative learning center serving 250 students and their extended families. It was started by Emmanuel Mawanda and Dr. Kate Parry. Mawanda is library director and headmaster of Kitengesa Comprehensive Secondary School. Parry divides her time between New York City where she is professor of English at Hunter College and Uganda where she has lived for many years.

Library vision

It is a gathering place for knowledge enrichment for the local community and serves as a window to the world via Internet technologies. Reading readiness and reading skills are offered as supplemental to primary and secondary schools as well as literacy programs for adults.

Since the late 1980s Uganda has rebounded from the abyss of civil war and economic catastrophe to become relatively peaceful, stable and prosperous.^[5] The people of Kitengesa will contribute to Uganda's future and Africa's imprint on the rest of the world.

Library patrons

The people who use the library most are students and teachers in Kitengesa Secondary Comprehensive School, but increasingly, primary and pre-school children are also using the library. Local residents use it regularly, too. The library serves all in the community — from those who are able to read, to the newly literate, to those who want to learn to read and write.

Funding

Until 2007, there have been three major funding sources, including United Nations One Percent For Development Fund, Kitengesa Comprehensive Secondary School, and Friends of Kitengesa Community Library. Since 2007, in addition to these major sources, several organizations have made significant contributions, including YouLead, FADA (Forestry for African Development Association), and TEAA (Teachers for East Africa Alumni).

Research

The Kitengesa Community Library has been the site of international research efforts since 2004. Researchers have studied the its impact on the surrounding community. Articles and book chapters detailing these research efforts have been published widely. Research topics have included the impact of the library on local economic development; the relationship of language, literacy, cultural practices and the role of the library; the impact of the library on student scholastic achievement; the impact of the library on children's learning readiness; the impact of the library on teaching and teacher outcomes; and the impact of the library on girls and women. A short documentary,^[6] on Kitengesa details a recent research project on children's learning readiness skills and the relation to the library.

A few of the published articles are listed below:

• Dent, V.; Goodman, G. (2015). "The Rural Library's Role in Ugandan Secondary Students' Reading Habits". The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions Journal. 41 (1): 53–62. doi:10.1177/0340035215571114. 
• Dent, V (2013). "A Qualitative Study of the Academic, Social, and Cultural Factors that Influence Students' Library Use in a Rural Ugandan Village". The International Information & Library Review. 45 (1-2): 37–49. doi:10.1016/j.iilr.2013.05.001. 
• Dent, V. 2013. "Exploring secondary school student factors and academic outcomes at the Kitengesa Community Library." In Dent, Goodman, & Kevane, Rural Community Libraries in Africa: Challenges and Impacts. IGI Global, 2014.
• Dent, V. 2012. An Exploratory Study of the Impact of the Rural Ugandan Village Library and Other Factors on the Academic Achievement of Secondary School Students. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Long Island University.
• Dent, V. 2007. Local Economic Development in Uganda and the Connection to Rural Community Libraries and Literacy. New Library World 108 (5/6): 203-217.^[7]
• Dent, V. 2006. Modelling the Rural Community Library: Characteristics of the Kitengesa Library in Uganda. New Library World, 107 (1/2): 16-30.^[8]
• Dent, V. 2006. Observations of School Library Impact at Two Rural Ugandan Schools. New Library World, 107 (9/10), 403-421.^[9]
• Dent, V., and Goodman, G. 2013. The Beast Had to Marry Balinda: Using Story Examples to Explore Socializing Concepts in Ugandan Caregivers’ Oral Stories. "Oral Tradition"^[10]
• Dent, V.; Yannotta, L. (2005). "A Rural Community Library in Uganda: A Study of its Use and Users" (PDF). Libri. 55 (1): 39–55. doi:10.1515/libr.2005.39. 
• Goodman, G. 2013. "The Intergenerational Impact of a Rural Community Library on Young Children’s Learning Readiness in a Ugandan Village." In Dent, Goodman, & Kevane, Rural Community Libraries in Africa: Challenges and Impacts. IGI Global, 2014.
• Jones, S (2009). "The Community Library as Site of Education and Empowerment for Women: Insights from Rural Uganda". Libri. 59 (2): 124–133. doi:10.1515/libr.2009.012. 
• Parry, K. 2013. "Books for African Readers: Borrowing Patterns at Kitengesa Community Library." In Dent, Goodman, & Kevane, Rural Community Libraries in Africa: Challenges and Impacts. IGI Global, forthcoming.
• Parry, K (2011). "Libraries in Uganda: Not just linguistic imperialism". Libri International Journal of Libraries and Information Services. 61 (4): 328–337. doi:10.1515/libr.2011.027. 
• Parry, K., Kirabo, E. and Nakyato, G. (forthcoming). "Working with parents to promote children's literacy: a family literacy project in Uganda," in Multilingualism and Education. Global Practices and Challenges, ed. Martin C. Njoroge, et al. New York: Springer.
• Parry, K. 2009. Languages, literacies, and libraries: A view from Africa. In J.A. Kleifgen and G.C. Bond (eds.) The languages of Africa and the Diaspora: Educating for Language Awareness. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
• Parry, K (2009). "The story of a library in Uganda: Research and development in an African village". Teachers College Record. 111 (9): 2127–47. 
• Parry, K. 2008. "It takes a village -- and a library: Developing a reading culture in Uganda." Edutopia Magazine Online^[11]
• Parry, K. 2007. "A library for learning: experiences of students in Uganda." Presented at ELITS Conference Shepstone, South Africa, August 9, 2007.^[12]
• Parry, K. 2004. Opportunities for girls: A community library project in Uganda. In B. Norton and A. Pavlenko (eds.) Gender and English language learners. Alexandria, VA: TESOL.
• Parry, K (2003). "The third Pan African Conference on Reading for All". TESOL Quarterly. 37 (4): 739–48. doi:10.2307/3588222. 
• Parry, K (2002). "Literacy for development? A community library project in Uganda". Language Matters. 33 (1): 142–68. doi:10.1080/10228190208566182. 

The research has and continues to influence development of the library and library-related services in the village. For example, findings from an unpublished research study (Jones 2008) on secondary schooling for girls led to the creation of the AFRIPads Project.^[13] The study revealed that girls were missing school each month due to the lack of proper feminine hygiene products.

Additional related research includes the following:

• Jones, S. 2008. Secondary schooling for girls in rural Uganda: challenges, opportunities and emerging identities. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of British Columbia.
• Jones, S (2011). "Girls' secondary education in Uganda: Assessing policy within the women's empowerment framework". Gender and Education. 23 (4): 385–413. doi:10.1080/09540253.2010.499854. 
• Jones, S.; Norton, B. (2007). "On the Limits of Sexual Health Literacy: Insights From Ugandan Schoolgirls". Diaspora, Indigenos, and Minority Education. 1 (4): 285–305. doi:10.1080/15595690701563998. 
• Kendrick, M.; Jones, S. (2008). "Girls' visual representations of literacy in a rural Ugandan community". Canadian Journal of Education. 31 (2): 371–404. 
• Norton, B.; Jones, S.; Ahimbisibwe, D. (2011). "Learning about HIV/AIDS in Uganda: Digital resources and language learner identities". The Canadian Modern Language Review. 67 (4): 569–90. 
• Yellin, E. (forthcoming). An Exploration of Caregiver Grief, Depression, and Outcomes Associated with Child Mortality in Rural Uganda. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Long Island University, Brookville, NY.

Videos

There are a number of videos that provide a visual tour of the library and the community:

• BBC story on the Kitengesa Community Library (2010).^[14]
• A brief documentary on the use of the library by women from the community.^[15]
• A brief documentary on the reading and literacy research project at the Kitengesa Community Library.^[16]
• Opening ceremony of the new Kitengesa Community Library building, 2009.^[17]
• VIdeo montage from Kitengesa Community Library.^[18]
• A Visit to the Uganda Community Libraries Association and Kitengesa Community Library.^[19]

Grants and awards

In 2013, an EIFL-PLIP (Electronic Information for Libraries-Public Libraries Innovation Programmes) Award was given for library services that contribute to social inclusion in the community.^[20] The project for which the library won the prize is the work that it is doing with students at the nearby Good Samaritan School for the Deaf. Volunteers Nidhi Abraham and Ooi Koon Peng from the University of British Columbia initiated the project with the help of Nakasiita Rosemary, one of the Library Scholars. The students now come regularly to the library to read books, learn how to use the computers, and to teach hearing people in the library’s Sign Language Club; they also talk to Nidhi and Koon Peng every week by Skype.

References

External links

• National Library of Uganda
• Uganda Library and Information Association
• National Book Trust of Uganda
• Uganda Community Libraries Association
• Friends of African Village Libraries