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Building the Kumbo Public Library
Reprinted with permission from
http://hiprojects.wordpress.com
After more than a year of fundraising, book drives and planning, the
construction of the Kumbo Public Library has begun. The Himalayan
Institute in partnership with the Honesdale Rotary sent 25,000 books
and archival quality shelving units to Kumbo, Cameroon. The
Himalayan Institute Cameroon community center was chosen to house
the new library, and plans have been drawn up to convert the
center’s main hall.
The hall is 1500 square feet with 13
feet high ceilings. There are windows on the north and east sides,
providing the hall with natural light all day.
On September 28, 2009, community
members and HIC staff began to move the shelving units and books out
of storage and into what will be their permanent location. Hundreds
of boxes of books were carried by hand and by wheelbarrow. Once the
books were brought into the building, a second team began the
project of sorting, organizing and alphabetizing the books.
Because of the generous fundraising
efforts of the Honesdale Rotary, the hall for the library will be
completely renovated with new furniture and structural improvements.
The Himalayan Institute School of Carpentry & Construction (C&C) has
undertaken the complete renovation and furnishing of the library.
C&C technicians are building custom-made tables, desks and chairs
for the library. In addition, the windows are being upgraded, so
that the library can be a fully climate controlled facility. This
will ensure that the books last for many generations.
C&C technicians organize the shelving
units for assembling.
Community education programs will be hosted at the library,
including adult literacy classes, children’s afterschool programs,
and educational video nights where films such as Plant Earth will be
projected onto the 12 foot cinema wall. Three computers will be
available in the library for educational use and they will be loaded
with Wikipedia For Schools, an offline version of Wikipedia that is
about the size of a twenty volume encyclopedia. So even when the
computers are not connected to the internet, students can still do
research and access up-to-date information. The library will have a
reading room, children’s learning area, and a section devoted to
textbooks. Books on average make up 44% of annual school expenses
for students in Kumbo. Having access to textbooks through a public
library will help make going to school more affordable.
Thanks to all of the help from the local community, the library will
be open by the end of the year.
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