Seeing opportunity in difficult times
Everyone knows about the recent cuts to U.S. foreign aid, and many people have asked us if or how we have been affected. USAID funding we have had in recent years has underwritten infrastructure development and, importantly, not our operations. Only one of our USAID grants—to expand facilities of our Nabukuyu Library—was canceled, and that was before we began work on it. The community's needs in Nabukuyu are great and we already have viable plans to address many of them with resources we have already obtained.
Nothing is more inspiring than seeing the children who come to Lubuto libraries thrive. But nothing is more alarming than seeing families and communities around us having their basic needs for health and education worsen. Now that many important programs and resources will be unavailable to our partners and neighbors due to freezes in foreign aid, we will continue to identify areas of need where caring public libraries can assist.
In this, our 20th anniversary year, we continue to be guided by our vision of a world where all children are supported by libraries to reach their full potential. Generous donors have brought us this far and are still critical to Lubuto's success. With a strengthened and growing Zambia Board we also hope for new and increasing support from Zambian investors in Lubuto's services and impact on their young people. Together we will continue to realize this vision for future generations.
The importance of being local
The latest draft of a paper by Prof. Anthony Ahrens and Dr. Millicent Curlee on our Templeton World Charity Foundation research project points to evidence of the importance of locally tailored health communication programs. The research investigated the impact of traditional storytelling in Lubuto's mentoring program on improving sexual and reproductive health (SRH) education outcomes. Research was carried out with nearly 500 youth at Lubuto libraries, combining traditional stories with the widely used, evidence-based Stepping Stones SRH curriculum. Preliminary findings appear to align with Lubuto’s fundamental approach of linking local traditions, knowledge and culture with universal values that guide our book and digital resource collection, program development and partnerships.
Virtually all Lubuto programs and resources are based on the core belief that public libraries must be rooted in deep knowledge of the culture and society they serve. A prime example is Lubuto library book collections. Each collection is carefully curated and consists of thousands of books from around the world, especially from Zambia and elsewhere in Africa, chosen to meaningfully inspire and inform the young people who flock to their libraries. Guided by library staff and volunteers—and reinforced with programs like Baby Laptime, art, mentoring, sign language storytime and drama—children discover new worlds and develop passions for reading and learning because of exposure to great books.
Your contribution matters now more than ever
Donations from individuals are even more critical than any other time in our 20-year history. Together, with you as a partner, we will steadfastly continue to find new opportunities to serve the communities who trust Lubuto libraries. Will you give today?
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