Community Libraries and Reading Programs for Youth in Burkina Faso

This paper describes the reading-related activities oriented to young adults in Burkina Faso of Friends of African Village Libraries, a non-profit organization that supports community libraries. These activities comprise three programs. The first program is direct support for dozens of rural libraries established since 2001. The paper describes the processes and materials that FAVL has developed to offer effective support for library operations. The FAVL philosophy involves training “local librarians” who can effectively manage small community libraries. The second program is a variety of reading programs, from summer reading camps for children to extension reading programs for young adults. These reading promotion activities can be adopted as replicable programs by other library-support organizations. The paper will report on a health reading club, funded by EIFL, involving 40 young women in four village libraries. The young women use smartphones to access important health information relevant for young women in rural settings (excision, pregnancy, HIV/AIDS). The paper will also report on a reading program for young adults, where books were delivered to villages with no libraries. The third program consists of initiatives to create and distribute attractive reading material for rural readers in Burkina Faso. Several initiatives have been taken over the past decade, resulting in more than 80 books printed and distributed to libraries. These books are oriented towards youth, and have become the most widely read books in the libraries, suggesting that library services in rural areas of Africa should not overlook an important role for the production of books that will appeal to local readers. Overall, the experience of FAVL support suggests that library support programs can be effective and low-cost. The FAVL model embraces transparency and effectiveness in library activities. The presentation and paper will give detailed information on costs of each of the programs.