Libraries are fundamentals of a functional community. A good library feels like a safe place to get lost within the creations of your mind without the constant interruptions from your surroundings. Libraries are also notably fundamental institutions in our societies, we have the need to improve Technology and literacy, especially in rural areas. To Elimu Fanaka, a stunning library is one that is functional and meets the needs of our learners.
Here are some of what we think are stunning ideas to incorporate into our libraries.
Virtual Reality – VR
VR is a 3D computer-generated display that gives users a feel of the natural environment and an immersive feel of a virtual world. Virtual Reality allows the learners to access information and knowledge by allowing them to have actual interaction with the information. For example, a learner can access historical information by virtually visiting the historical time. How impressive is that! Having the ability to be immersed in a historical moment allows the learners to integrate their senses which in turn strengthens their memory. They are able to take the theoretical concepts from books and the classroom to an actual immersive and real-time experience. Having such an interactive experience makes learning fun, and memorable and ultimately results in access to quality education.
Board Games
When some learners think of libraries, boring comes to mind. It does not have to be this way! Board Games are not only beneficial to adults but young learners as well. They can be very effective learning tools for learners and beneficial for development, memory skills, and educational purposes. Having board games in libraries will help learners to look forward to using libraries since it also comes with the reward of having fun and learning at the same time. Competitive events can also be incorporated to make the learners immerse more in learning through play.
Audiovisual Books
Audiovisual books are as the name suggests, composed of sound and motion graphics. This idea incorporates technology in the library and allows learners to interact with technological materials during their learning process. Learners in rural public primary schools lack access to technology and this would be an interesting way to encourage them to learn and improve learner retention in the libraries. Just as in virtual reality, audiovisual books convey information through patterns and signals that allow the learners to use most of their senses and therefore improve their memory. Moreover, audio-visual books are functional for knowledge preservation since the information can be stored for decades with good use. Digitization of audio and video collection has been gaining popularity in recent years and would be functional to have these in our rural libraries.
Library Events and Activities.
Engaging learners in events will make them feel involved and who does not want that? Allowing learners to organize and participate in community events held at the library gives them a sense of ownership. When you own something, you take care of it. These events can include spelling bees, fundraising events for the library, craft events, and book reading challenges among other daily activities.
The whole point of having libraries is to build knowledge, especially for young learners, and provide support to access quality education. Customizing learning and reading in libraries to be pleasurable will make learners happier, and more dedicated to learning and improve their performance.
At Elimu Fanaka, we are committed to constructing or repurposing, and renovating unutilized classrooms into functional libraries in all our partner schools through the Jenga Library Campaign. Join us in the cause by sharing our work with as many people in your network so that together we can create functional libraries for learners in rural public schools in Kenya.
Boyani Momanyi, Communications Associate