Bring innovative libraries to 100,000 Africans

Antonetta, who works at Zimbabwe’s Bulawayo Municipal Library Services system, believes in the transformative power of libraries. If she didn’t, she would have never made a commitment to change people’s lives through them. Yet, she struggled to provide the learning opportunities that libraries should be able to offer communities. Aside from being underresourced and understaffed, librarians, like Antonetta, lacked the support and inspiration to explore new ways they could meet their communities' needs.  

In the face of these challenges, Antonetta attended AfLIA’s INELI-SSAf training on data-driven decision making, project planning and implementation, change management, and other topics necessary for librarians to create innovative programs that truly engage community members. Among other things, the training helped her build relationships with a network of other African librarians, partner with other organizations, and measure impact.

Today, Antonetta helps run the Open Door Children initiative, created by Book Aid International. The program teaches individuals, communities, and families the value of reading in establishing a lifelong learning path, especially in areas where books are scarce. It has also created vibrant library environments for the youth, where they can learn and play with peers. 

Through the efforts of Antonetta and other AfLIA-trained librarians, libraries become more involved in improving not only the literacy of library users, but their lives. This is opening more doors for library users, and contributing to the overall development of Sub-Saharan Africa’s communities.

Thank you for supporting our cause and helping us enable librarians to transform their libraries. We look forward to seeing what more we can do with your generous help.