The Lubuto Library Project, headed by DSOC member Jane Kinney Meyers, was awarded the American Library Association Presidential Citation for International Innovation at the ALA International Reception on July 13.
The award was presented:
- For founding a professional library development organization that creates indigenously-styled, model libraries with excellent collections and programs for Africa’s most vulnerable children, giving them literacy skills and opportunities for educational growth, discovery and joy through reading, storytelling, arts and mentoring programs;
- For innovative library services to street children—providing a safe, nurturing space and learning opportunities for children who cannot attend school—providing much more than a room with books;
- For connecting American volunteers and students with their African peers through a community service program that raises awareness of the impact of AIDS in orphaning African children and builds balanced and high-quality 4,000-volume collections and sends them shelf-ready to Zambia;
- For working to preserve Zambia’s cultural heritage;
- For partnering with governments and colleagues and establishing a funding network to insure sustainability and growth to develop other Lubuto Libraries;
- For serving as a true hero to vulnerable children in Zambia and a shining example of commitment to first-rate library services for youth around the world.
Congratulations to Jane and the Lubuto Library Project!
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