Jenneffer in Africa cross-listed with libraria miscellanea

I intended my Jenneffer in Africa blog to be targeted to the non-library audience, i.e. general readership comprised of friends, family, lurkers, etc. However, I see that my work here is a lot of 'libraria miscellanea' now, so I may need to cross-list posts from time to time.




This Friday, I am hosting a workshop at my school in Logaganeng for all interested Peace Corps Volunteers serving in the Northern Cape, along with their principals and/or community counterparts. The workshop is inteded to let my librarian and principal tell the story of how they started their library. I also invited the librarian from Kuruman, the Northern Cape Provincial Library Services, and the Moshaweng Municipality; all were instrumental in helping start and keep running Logaganeng Library. Each should have a turn to describe how they operate, then I will fill in any gaps and be the ringleader of the show. For truly, all events in South Africa function much like a circus; this one should be no exception, and I don't mind at all to conduct such an event.



My lovely boyfriend [who is also a librarian] has been instrumental in assisting me with resources, as my access to the internet is very limited. We spend a lot of our time talking about library and information technology issues, and have generated some good ideas. All I can do is try, and do my best. Things fail here all the time, and as a result, I am trying to make any change a slow, sustainable one. Mostly I am joining people with other people, and showing people how and where to get resources. There isn't much of me doing anything for anybody, as I feel they ought to be in a place to do it for themselves. There are too many computer labs gathering dust because of lack of people and/or training to use them. Who needs a computer when a simple book will do? Or a simple way to organize what books you have? And a simple method in which to let other people borrow them? Welcome to good old-fashioned "library science."