Busolwe Public Library, or the BPL, is a small community library in the village of

Busolwe Busolwe is a town in the Eastern Region of Uganda. It is one of the two municipalities in Butaleja District, the other being Butaleja. Location Busolwe is approximately , by road, southwest of Butaleja, the location of the district headquarters. ...

, eastern

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

. The library consists of two schools and a center for Early Childhood Development (ECD) in order to improve the overall reading culture in the locality and to serve as an extension for learning beyond the classroom. It is part of the Uganda Community Libraries Association (UgCLA).

History

The Busolwe Public Library (BPL) was founded by the Lunyole Language Association (LLA) in 1996. BPL is the only community library serving

Butaleja District Butaleja District is a district in Eastern Uganda. It is named after its main town, Butaleja, where the district headquarters are located. Location Butaleja District is bordered by Budaka District to the north, Mbale District to the east, T ...

Eastern Region, Uganda The Eastern region is one of four Regions of Uganda, regions in Uganda. As of Uganda's 2014 census, the region's population was . Districts , the Eastern Region contained 32 Districts of Uganda, districts: References External links G ...

which consists of over 200,000 people. Throughout its history, the library has had the opportunity to work with a number of organizations based outside of Uganda, such as

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an Independent agency of the U.S. government, independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to communities in partner countries around the world. It was established in Marc ...

and Go Global

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

. International partnership characterizes the continued growth and success of the library.

Library vision

As books are rarely found in average households in Busolwe, BPL aims to improve the overall reading culture in the locality. It also seeks to serve as an extension for learning beyond the classroom by offering school textbooks to students who do not have access to them at school and at home. With a relatively large collection of books in the vernacular language

Lunyole Nyole (also LoNyole, Lunyole, Nyuli) is a Bantu language spoken by the Banyole in Butaleja District, Uganda. There is 61% lexical similarity with a related but different Nyole language in Kenya. Phonology Consonants Nyole has series of v ...

, BPL hopes to contribute to the preservation of the language, which is one of the many endangered Niger–Congo languages in

sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

Library patrons

Patrons of the BPL consist mainly of students, teachers, and other concerned professionals who spend their leisure time reading. Young children under the age of 7 also come to the library to listen to stories read aloud by the librarian and volunteers. On average, more than 30 community members come to the library every day in order to read and study.

Partner organisations

; Uganda Community Libraries Association (UgCLA) The ''Uganda Community Libraries Association (UgCLA)'', heads a network of community libraries in the country. As a member of the UgCLA, BPL is given a monthly stipend to employ a full-time librarian and also to purchase books and stationary. The UgCLA also organizes workshops for librarians to be trained twice a year and other specific workshops throughout the year which focus on different techniques and approaches to learning. ; Lunyole Language Association (LLA) The ''Lunyole Language Association (LLA)'' was founded in 1964 to actively promote the use of Lunyole in Uganda. The LLA has championed the writing and publishing of printed materials in Lunyole. The BPL is proud to host a collection of more than 100 Lunyole language storybooks for children. ; University of British Columbia (UBC) The ''

(UBC)'' has begun a partnership with BPL since 2008, and sends over student volunteers through its Go Global International Service Learning Program. From working together, the local community members and international volunteers have enjoyed a fruitful partnership, leading rise to many of BPL's currents projects in the community. ; Local schools The library also partners with many local schools to promote both the library and the reading culture through collaborative projects. These projects range from story-reading, safe sex seminars to reading competitions.

References

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External links