The Mango Tree workshop on games -breaking the ice with a song.

In an area like Kitengesa, where many people are uneducated and most people are poor, books are still a rare phenomenon, and few of those who are literate have well established habits of reading. So it is important that the library not only to supply books but also actively encourage people to come and make use of them. To this end Emmanuel Mawanda and Daniel Ahimbisibwe work with local community leaders, including the Chairman of the local branch of the National Resistance Movement, the catechist, and members of the Local Council I (i.e. the lowest level in the local government system), to organize events that will raise awareness of the library. Those events have included meetings of various local groups, public appearances—on the radio and at national conferences—of library leaders, and specially arranged workshops on educational and health issues. In July 2005, for instance, Craig Esbeck, of Mango Tree Educational Enterprises (which makes inexpensive teaching aids out of local materials), led a workshop on how to use games for educational purposes. An earlier workshop, held in January 2004, focused on family issues; it was led by Sister Maureen Nakazibwe, a qualified nurse who runs a clinic near Kitengesa.

The library also hosts a number of regular activities. Every day during term time a students’ newspaper club meets to read the papers to one another. Every Wednesday a women’s group comes to the library to work on reading and writing and to learn such skills as book-keeping. And every Saturday is Games Night: we have a number of games, such as Snakes and Ladders, Ludo, dominoes, and Scrabble, and anyone is invited to come in on Saturday after 7 to play them. Then there are monthly meetings of the Straight Talk Club, Straight Talk being a student newspaper that provides sex education and teaches students how to avoid AIDS. The students read the newspaper in single sex groups and then boys and girls meet with Dan to discuss their responses and to clear up any language difficulties they may have encountered.

Children's Day in the Library

One attraction of Children's Day is that the children are given refreshments.

Nansamba came to the library first with her school. Now she comes by herself and is a frequent visitor.

Another monthly event is Children’s Day. By August 2005 the library had had only two children under ten among its members, so we initiated a campaign to bring the children in. The first step was a Children’s Reading Tent held on March 4: a tent was set up outside the library for displaying books, and 10 children from each of 12 primary schools were invited, together with three teachers from each school and local dignitaries. A team of facilitators, led by Ms Eva Barongo of the Reading Association of Uganda came to help with the tent, and the Reading Association made a donation of children’s books. The facilitators, together with the teachers, librarians, and library scholars, organized activities for the children, including not only reading, but painting, drawing, writing, singing, and dancing. There were also speeches and a good meal for everyone. Here is an account of the day by one of the participating children:

"Last Saturday primary 5 and 6 pupils went to Kitengeesa Reading tent. We read books, drew pictures, painted and played games. I liked reading and playing cards best. We ate food and after that there was more time for reading. We spent the whole day in the tent. Kitengeesa has a good and big library."

Now, one Saturday of every month during the term time is a designated Children’s Day. Children are again invited from neighboring primary schools, and the library scholars lead them in similar activities. But since June 2007 young children from the neighborhood have been turning up on Saturdays, uninvited but expecting to be entertained. They are made welcome, of course, and Dan now has all the library scholars on duty on Saturdays to look after them.