I run into lots of people in Zambia who ask me what I'm doing here. It's a fair question, and so I tell them: I'm a librarian-in-training, conducting collection evaluation research in children’s libraries. And more than once now the person I'm talking to has looked at me with bemusement and a little bit of pity and said, "A librarian? But here we don't have a reading culture."
Read MoreThe other day there was a girl sitting in the insaka. The insaka is one of the library buildings, a small, round, open space where children often gather. It's a "lobby" of sorts,
Read MoreI am one of those weird people who loves public speaking. I find it invigorating. Even more than public speaking, though, I love reading. So it comes as a surprise to no one when I say that I love storytimes-- they are public reading, shared experiences in which I can make a story I love come alive for a group of children.
Read MoreWhen I worked in Lubuto's D.C. office, I spent a fair amount of time captioning photos that other people had taken in the libraries. Looking through those pictures was always fun-- seeing the big smiles, the crowds of children watching or participating in drama performances, and the teen artists bent over their masterpieces.
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