COMMUNITIES BENEFIT FROM AFRICAN LIBRARY PROJECT

Some months ago, the Chancellor College library made a call to college staff to identify communities within rural regions of the country that could benefit from the establishment of small libraries. This was to be achieved through the donation of books from the African Library Project (ALP). Some members of staff took interest and took the requisite forms to share with their communities.

The books arrived in September this year. There are about 26,000 books, which have been distributed to 21 school and community libraries. On 23rd October, 2017, there was a small ceremony in the Senior Common Room, at Chancellor College, to mark the handover of the books from the college library to the communities. The benefiting schools and communities are from different parts of the country, including Karonga, Mangochi, and Zomba, among others.

Father Nanyalo, from St. James Chiona High School, who spoke on behalf of all the beneficiaries, expressed his gratitude to ALP and Chancellor College for their assistance in making the arrival of the books a reality. He expressed optimism that the readers in the libraries would now have access to more knowledge that they previously had, and would therefore improve their reading culture.

The acting college librarian, Mr. Brian Sitima-Ndau, also expressed the hope that the libraries would be of some help in curing the country’s illiteracy.

Taking his turn to speak, the Principal, Prof. Richard Tambulasi, informed the gathering that he was happy that the function illustrated Chancellor College’s corporate responsibility. “As an institution of higher learning, the best donations we can make are tools of knowledge generation, such as books,” he said. “Doing that ensures that the future crop that comes to Chancellor College has a good foundation through wide reading.”