Kitengesa Community Library


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

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. 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, and TEAA.

Research

The Kitengesa Community Library has been the site of international research efforts since 2004. Researchers have studied 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, 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:
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 on secondary schooling for girls led to the creation of the AFRIPads Project. 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:
There are a number of videos that provide a visual tour of the library and the community:
In 2013, an EIFL-PLIP Award was given for library services that contribute to social inclusion in the community. 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.