Wednesday, 26th July, 2023 – The Cocoa Communities Library Project (CCLP) has been launched in Adugyama in the Ashanti Region of Ghana to promote reading in rural communities and improve reading literacy skills among pupils at the basic school level in ten cocoa-growing communities in the Ahafo Ano Southwest and Ahafo Ano Southeast districts of the Ashanti Region. About one hundred community participants, including the District Directors of Education and representatives from the local government agencies, community leaders, headteachers, project patrons, and children from schools within the ten targeted communities, attended the launch of the project at the Ahafo Ano Southeast District Assembly Hall.
The 2-year project, which is being implemented by Participatory Development Associates (PDA) in partnership with Magic Libraries Foundation, aims to contribute to Ghana’s efforts to promote reading literacy and will provide a well-resourced and conducive reading environment for children in rural communities. The project aims to refurbish community cluster libraries and provide access to 5000 books through mobile library services and weekly reading sessions in the target communities.
Two community cluster libraries have been refurbished and re-opened by the project partners and are now ready to serve other communities. Smaller communities will be presented with “Library-in-a-Box” – which will allow children to practice reading on a weekly basis with the support of schools, teachers and community members.
The Cocoa Communities Library Project targets one thousand (1000) children and expects to improve children’s reading proficiency and comprehension skills through weekly reading sessions, peer learning and reading competitions. Other expected outcomes for children include enhanced self-learning, confidence, imagination, and expressiveness, as well as making education a fun and preferred option for children instead of illegal mining (“galamsey”) and child labour in the districts.
One sample of “Library-in-a-Box” for mobile library services was presented by Mr. Edem Agbe, the Managing Director of PDA, to commemorate the launch. Mr. Agbe reiterated his hope that this project will complement efforts to promote reading in community schools.
The community launch is the first in a series of activities planned to ignite the passion for reading and enhance children’s reading and comprehension skills in the targeted communities.
Mr. Agbe, the Managing Director of the implementing partner, Participatory Development Associates, remarked, “We are very happy that this project has been received so well by the districts. It is obviously well understood that our efforts will complement the work of the schools, the homes, and the communities in building a passion for reading in these young ones.”
Mr. Edem Agbe, Managing Director, PDA
Speaking at the event, Mr. Hamid Kramor, the District Director of Education for the Ahafo Ano Southeast district, appreciated the partners for the idea and the donations. He said, “This project is meant for schools in ten communities, but we know that it is for all the schools in our districts. We will replicate this model so that all our schools will be filled with children who are excited about what books they can read next.”
Sharing her views in a brief documentary introduced at the launch, one child from a school in the Ahafo Ano Southwest district said, “We are grateful to Participatory Development Associates and Magic Libraries Foundation. These books will improve our performance in the BECE.”
About Participatory Development Associates
Participatory Development Associates (PDA) is a social development, project management and advisory organization that is based in Ghana and works across Sub-Sahara Africa. With over 20 years of experience, PDA works with government, non-government and private organizations, as well as multilateral and bilateral organizations, in areas such as research, monitoring and evaluation, policy analysis and advocacy, local economic development, education, agribusiness, child labour and remediation, financial inclusion (VSLAs & Cooperatives), gender, youth empowerment, and development. In particular, the organization has supported empowerment and self-determination processes in communities and individuals through development research, the design of independent and evidence-based process and impact evaluation systems for development programs, project design and management, and capacity-building for development practitioners. It is committed to realizing a proud and prosperous future for Africa, building on its own history and indigenous systems.
About Magic Libraries Foundation
Founded by Bob and Yuko Harris in 2016, Magic Libraries Foundation is a Swiss based organization, headquartered in Geneva, whose mission is to promote education through reading. To achieve its mission, the Foundation has set two main objectives: (1) create and support community libraries in countries and disadvantaged areas, (2) contribute to the training of translators of children’s books in national and minority groups’ languages. It accomplishes these through the creation of new fixed or mobile libraries; infrastructure development of existing community libraries; the training of librarians, teachers and/or schools to manage and value stock of books for young people; the promotion of reading (invitations of authors, reading workshops, interscholastic competitions, etc.); and the training of translators for translation of children’s books into national and minority groups’ languages.