Boxes and Boxes of Books

I did come to The School of St. Jude to work in one of their libraries, so let me tell you a bit about my days at work. The Usa River campus of the school opened last year, but unfortunately for all concerned, the library remained closed. There are very few Westerners in teaching positions because trained and educated Tanzanians are, of course, hired to teach. But there are several "teacher mentors" who come from Australia, Canada and the USA who provide some guidance and fresh ideas, and several speciality teachers (a PE teacher, an art teacher and the librarians) because qualified Tanzanians are difficult to find. But, last year, the librarian that was hired became ill, and was unable to come, so the library remained closed. When school started on January 5, Miss Margie (an experienced librarian from a boys school in Tasmania) unlocked the doors to the large library and found it empty, except for boxes and boxes of donated books. Shelves have since been made, a computer set up, tables and chairs brought in from the workshop, and mats put out in the story area. An Australian company has donated the software for cataloging, and Miss Margie has begun to add barcodes to the books, and input the information, starting a catalog. We are waiting for the spine labels to arrive, and discussing various ways to check out books to the students, teachers and staff, who are all eager to borrow books. Miss Margie has working for her in the library two capable women, Miss Faith and Miss Charisma, who teach the library classes, and one "askari," or guard, Mr. Forehead, who helps in many ways. All three of these library folk now can catalog books, and progress is being made.

You know how difficult it is for me to say "no" when someone wants to check out books, and Miss Margie is just like me, so we put out plastic baskets of picture books, have made a fiction shelf (the most popular titles are by Roald Dahl and C.S. Lewis), have the dictionaries and encyclopedias on a reference shelf, and a shelf for nonfiction, and the students are now able to check out a book by signing a register-which is a school exercise book. In my unpacking, I discovered many Newbery Award books, and they are also proving popular.

I cannot begin to even estimate the number of boxes that I have opened, unpacked, sorted and shelved! But, after weeks of this work, I think that the place is beginning to look like a library, and it is certainly functioning like one! There are 625 students who come once a week with classes, just like at LJCDS, and they also come during their break times if they want.

Harry Potter books are predictably popular, and Miss Faith has been reading it to the Standard 5 students. Fortunately, many of J.K. Rowling's books have been donated!

I have not been teaching classes, but have enjoyed sharing some great titles with Miss Charisma, who has read some of them to her classes. It was so wonderful to hear her read Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters to the first and second graders. They loved it! And when she read The Little Red Hen to the Prep (Kindergarten) students, they were rolling on the floor in laughter making all the farmyard animal sounds. Just like LJCDS students, their favorite was the snorting of the pig!

I have been reading to students during the morning tea break and during lunch recess, and we have finished all six of the Time Soldiers books that we have. We have moved on to Magic Treehouse books now.

One of the unexpected and unplanned benefits of working at St. Jude's has been that I have learned a great deal about Australian literature from Margie. I have a list of books that I want to share with students. You may recall that one of my top ten favorite books, and one that took a long time to locate and buy because it was an Australian title, is Billy the Punk. I can promise that I have found books that are just as clever and fun as that!

As I unpack books, I find titles that remind me of students and friends. I have never been lonely or homesick here, but that does not mean that I do not think fondly of the folks back home. When I unpack Choose Your Own Adventure books, I think of Lynn. Brian Wildsmith reminds me of Susan, who told me that Brian grew up in a dingy coal town and craved bright colors, which you can see he uses in his illustrations. There are some real treasures, and I think of Bobbie looking through the used book sales at the downtown library and finding such interesting things. My best find is an alphabet book by Rudyard Kipling's father, which he illustrated for his grandchildren. Tin Tin books, origami books, Guinness World Record books, pirate books, and Little House on the Prairie books remind me of the children who love them.

Like you, St. Jude students love books!