Assisting school libraries across Ohangwena.

         

Meaningful education cannot happen in a vacuum. Libraries and schools that work together to share their knowledge, expertise and resources between teachers and librarians will be able to reap the benefits of the aggregate's collective experience. While the Ohangwena Regional Library is the flagship resource center of the region, it is by no means the only educational institution and seeks to work in concert with the numerous school and small community libraries across the area. Our imperative is to help build the capacity of these fellow institutions so as to empower the teachers and help give the learners access to quality education resources. This mission is an integral part of the Regional Library's charter and on our staff is a dedicated Schools Librarian, who's sole purview is to work with the librarians of local schools.

          Over the past few weeks she and several colleagues have gone out each day to every corner of Ohangwena region, meeting with principals, and school and community librarians. When the team arrives at a school, the first step is to meet with the staff, to learn about the state of their library and to what extent the available resources are used in the classes to support the curriculum. Next, the sleeves get rolled up and the library is assessed, reorganized, old books are cleaned out, and an updated book catalogue is made. Many school libraries suffer from the lack of a full time a librarian, and when multiple teachers share the work, the diffusion of responsibility can lead to no one taking charge of the library and the resources gong unused. Also many of the smaller school libraries suffer from large gaps in their collection, making the library only useful to some subject teachers, but not others. It is our responsibility as professional full-time librarians to help bring these libraries up to their full potential and instruct the school's faculty on how to fully utilize the resources at their fingertips. We come prepared with a projector and screen to deliver a workshop to teachers on ways to incorporate the books into the curriculum, effectively manage the school library, and encourage their students to take up pleasure reading. The response has been very positive and the teachers are highly appreciative; with a better understanding of the their own libraries, they know they can make their classes more dynamic and engaging for their learners. Over the coming months we hope to continue this rewarding endeavor, reaching out to schools to improve the quality of the education across Ohangwena.