Luganga Secondary School in Mafinga, Tanzania asked for a school library, and we delivered! After traveling for a couple of days, our group of volunteers arrived in Dar es Salaam and then visited bookstores to purchase as many local books as possible. The group then traveled by bus to the central, interior part of the country to set up books and train library staff.
Our shipment of books had been held up in Singapore for a couple of months and did not arrive in time for our trip, but students, staff, and a librarian from Iringa finished the work of setting up the books. Our volunteers had taken a couple hundred books with them for the library, so we were able to train staff on processing new books, library organization, and principles of librarianship.
One of the volunteers, Gina, belongs to a chess organization and brought many donated chess sets. Our group taught teachers and students how to play chess, in the hopes that the library will be seen as a hub of the school, a place where students can gather to pursue many interests, including becoming experts at chess. While there, we met and were driven around by Albert, one of the teachers at the school, who also runs a preschool and primary school. Our organization will return to Tanzania to continue working with the secondary school and to open a school library for Albert’s school in 2026.
Libraries for the World 