Since our Resource Center Coordinator Evans Omondi was appointed in October, he has been very busy working with librarian Evans Lubwa and the rest of the library team to improve library services, researching and networking to secure funding and support, and trying to increase income generated from the cyber business towards making the library a self-sustainable service.
Books
Hatua has secured a KES 500,000/= (US$5880) grant from the Safaricom Foundation for curriculum based books. These books are greatly needed and are in high demand from our library users. Omondi has met with various head teachers around Likoni to seek their advice on which books we should stock to best serve Likoni’s school children.
Cyber Lab
The cyber business has been slow to start, partly due to the knock-on effect of three weeks without power in October and also because it is a new service and not many people know about it. However, through increased advertising efforts (networking and posters), we are confident that the business will expand. We also plan to buy a photocopier in the New Year, which will expand our services and help to increase the library’s income.
The library is now registered as a Cyber Lab with Tech Soup Kenya, an organization that connects, supports and gives grants to computer-based organizations throughout Kenya.
Library users
In November, the number of library users doubled from 3,000 during October to over 6,000 this month. As word spreads about the library and as children are off school for the Christmas holidays, we are expecting the library to be even busier during December!
The number of registered library users has also been increasing; over the last two months, we have registered 17 new members, bringing our total member list to 54. For 250/= (US$3) a year (100/= (US$1.20) for primary school students), members can borrow one book at a time to take home for a maximum of two weeks.
Otherwise, anyone is free to use the library; Omondi says that it is not unusual for students to come to the library for the whole day – from when it opens at 9am to when it closes at 8pm – breaking only for lunch!