Revenue
Up till 2007 Kitengesa Community Library has depended on three major sources of funds:
1. Kitengesa Comprehensive Secondary School
The school provided the land for the library building and contributes to the living expenses of one of the librarians (Dan Ahimbisibwe).
2. United Nations One Per Cent for Development Fund
In 2000 this fund gave a grant of $2932 for the erection of the library building, and it gave a further grant of $3650 in 2004. Since then, it has acted as a conduit for funds raised by colleagues at the UN.
3. Friends of Kitengesa Community Library
Kate Parry, with the help of Patricia Woodard, organizes prose and poetry readings about once a year as benefits for the library. The readings are held at Hunter College in New York, where they both work, and the readers frequently include faculty or students from the college’s distinguished Creative Writing Program. The benefits usually raise about $3000.
In addition, the following organizations have made significant contributions in 2007-8:
1. YouLead
In 2007 YouLead raised CAN$10,000 on behalf of the library for the purpose of establishiing a computer center. The donors were Libraries Across Borders, Simonds Elementary School, and the University of British Columbia (all in Vancouver, Canada). YouLead has also built a house for Dan Ahimbisibwe, who helps look after the volunteers that it sends.
2. FADA (Forestry for African Development Association)
Besides helping many of the students who use the library (see Development Projects), FADA has contributed 2,000,000 shillings (about $1250) to the library’s present building project (see Plans for Expansion).
3. TEAA (Teachers for East Africa Alumni)
In 2007 TEAA gave us an eGranary (see Development) and a computer with which to run it.
The library raises a small amount in Uganda shillings from membership fees (at 2000 shillings for every local member outside Kitengesa Comprehensive Secondary School and 3000 shillings for every member who comes from a different sub-county), temporary readers’ fees (at 200 shillings per visit), and occasional local donations. Since the building has had electricity, it has also been possible to charge people’s mobile phones in return for a fee of 500 shillings (about 40 cents).
Expenditures
Funds raised are spent on the following:
1. The library building
The One Per Cent Fund’s grants have been spent on putting up the building, furnishing it, and installing and expanding the solar electricity system.
2. Salaries
The library employs two librarians, Lucy Namwanje and Dan Ahimbisibwe. Lucy is paid 10,000 shillings for each day she travels from her home to work at the library. She usually comes three days a week. Dan is paid 100,000 shillings per month to look after the library for the remaining four days of the week.
3. Subscriptions
The library subscribes to two English newspapers and one Luganda one; it also buys one Luganda magazine. Altogether these subscriptions come to a little more than 1,000,000 shillings (about $640) a year.
4. Books
Any remaining funds are spent on books. It is library policy to purchase these in Uganda as far as possible. In this way we support local publishing as well as ensuring that the books we buy are perceived to be relevant to local interests.
5. Supplies
The money raised from membership fees is used to purchase materials for repairing books, photocopying, taking photographs of library occasions, and similar small expenses.
6. Refreshments
Since the institution of Children’s Day the money raised from charging phones has been used to buy drinks and snacks for the children who come.
Any other administrative costs are covered by Kate Parry or by other friends of the library as contributions in kind.
Management of funds
Until late 2007, funds raised in the United States were kept in a dollars account on behalf of the library by Teachers for East Africa Alumni, a non-profit organization based in Baltimore, Maryland. Since then, Friends of African Village Libraies (FAVL), based in San Jose, California, has taken over this responsibility. Kate Parry uses her own funds in Uganda to purchase books and pay salaries and school fees, and then she claims a refund in dollars. In this way, no library funds are spent on bank transfers. Emmanuel Mawanda administers the salaries through Kitengesa Comprehensive Secondary School’s Uganda shillings account. He also accounts for the funds raised locally.
