Week Two at the Library

Saturday morning at the library after a very busy but gratifying second week of operations. We managed to finalize our schedule and we had to make the rule that once there are no more seats in the library you have to wait outside until someone leaves. In such situations there is an hour time limit on library time.

I wish I had the camera with me this morning when we had to put that rule into effect at 8:05 (the library opens at 8) because so many students from the St Pierre School (one of the other schools in the same cluster as our home school) had come to read. But here are a couple pictures from free time earlier in the week.

Spending more time at school is giving us more time to interact with and observe the teachers as well. It's amazing how easy it is to pick up on which teachers are more respected rather than feared. This tends to correspond with the teachers who come with their classes to the library and take advantage of the opportunity to check up on their students' level. On the other hand, I don't think I am ever going to get used to hearing teachers from the first grade on up to the ninth shouting "Imbécile!" at their students. Robert pointed out that I actually appeared to be noticing and caring if the students in my English classes were learning something, an interest he feels most teachers here don't have. Granted, it's a lot easier to check in with each student when there are 17 and not 60 in a room.

The big thing at the library this week was the start of literacy activities for the elementary school classes and extra English lessons for the middle schoolers. For the moment I am leading these activities under the observation of the librarians who will take over after Christmas break. We played alphabet bingo in the 3rd grade, which mostly revealed that only a handful of the 3rd graders know their alphabet, but they enjoyed the game and asked to play again next week. The 9th graders worked on a text about Thanksgiving, which made us all hungry and led to a lot of laughs as I tried to explain American football beyond "it's kind of like rugby, but maybe more violent."

As usual, our smallest students provided some of the more adorable moments of the week. The first graders learned a couple new words in French: "little brother" and "hen" (chicken-woman in Bambara) with the help of a read-aloud story. The Kindergarteners listened to Le Gâteau (or ask they call it waraba "big lion") and then drew pictures of cake they would like to eat. Most of them are still at the stage where holding a marker is a challenge, but the resulting scribbles were adorable. Afterwards we wrote each of their names and had them repeat the letters. Literacy starts early!

So, as with everything, another week of ups and downs, but more importantly another week of books in the hands of kids. It becomes more and more apparent that we need more books and art supplies and eventually more libraries! Stay tuned for the launch of our website and how to help!

Opening Week at the Library

We officially opened the library on Tuesday and I am so happy to say that our first week of operation has gone amazingly well. Each class has come to the library at their scheduled time, been introduced to the space and how it works, and then gotten some free time to read and look at the books. While there has been some confusion about the procedures for taking books off the shelves and putting them back, the kids are catching on fast and they are overjoyed at getting access to the books. So you can see for yourselves, here are some of the best pictures and my favorite moments from the week.

The 3rd grade was our first primary school group and I was so impressed by how well they listened. Here are some of the girls carefully examining their books.

The second cycle (middle-school classes) are serious about using these books. Their classrooms are right outside our door, so we can hear their normal noise level, but you could have heard a pin drop during 90% of their library time. Most of these 9th grade girls are studying our copies of their French textbook.

I know some of you were waiting for updates on the kindergarten so here they are (with their frequently absent teacher) examining what I am quite sure are the first books most of them have ever held. Unfortunately they are the only class small enough to fit on the mat (we're working on how best to fix that), but they loved the story I read with their teacher's enthusiastic Bambara translations and generally had a great time.

Read-alouds are a little difficult with the bigger classes like the 2nd grade, but with plenty of walking around to make sure everyone saw the pictures Le Gateau was still a big hit.

I just love this picture of one of the 4th graders immersed in his comic book. Later in the afternoon, when he didn't have class, he came back and insisted that I sit with him while he read aloud from another book.

This picture gives you some idea of the ordered chaos that was the entry of 33 first graders into the library. Possibly my favorite moment of the week came in the afternoon when one little girl, Aminata, who is clearly the ring leader of the class, showed up at the door of the library independently with 20 more first graders behind her and declared “An na na liburu kalan.” which translates to “We have come to read the books.”

One of the things that has amazed me most has been how many kids come to the library when they are not in class. This shows one of the tables during lunch-break. The other was equally full. The girl in blue in the front corner helpfully provided us with a list of “Les Noms des Bavards” (the names of the talkers) before leaving.

As I write this about 10 8th graders have come in to read while they wait for their teacher to show up. We'll have to see if this enthusiasm lasts, but for now it sure is fantastic to see. The cours privés start tomorrow and we'll begin literacy activities with the 1er cycle next week. Our librarians are also having a good first week, here's Baïssou posing with the bookshelf.

More Good News and Bad News

The good news is...we're opening on Monday! The books are moving in today, the catalogue program is ready, the class schedule is fixed, and we are ready to go! Everyone is so excited to see kids in the library and the kids are excited as well. We've been at the school a lot this week getting ready and almost every kid who sticks their head in the door says things like, “That's where the books are going to go!”

These are most of the kindergartners at our partner school.

They, of course, are not the bad news; they are fantastic. The bad news is that we have yet to see a teacher in their classroom, which is one of the darkest in the school and has a giant pile of construction equipment in one corner. I am unclear as to what the purpose of kindergarten is in Malian school, given that all of the creativity and color that I associate with kindergarten seems to have no bearing on the remainder of school. Regardless of this question, I am pretty sure that they should have a teacher in their classroom. I think there is one teacher for the kindergarten and 1st grade, and that she spends most of her time with the 1st graders. We hope to work out a system so the Kindergarteners can spend extra time in the library during these periods where they just sit on their miniature benches. Especially at that age, we believe that our brightly colored story mat, some picture books, coloring pictures, talking in French and Bambara, and exploring letters in the library can make a big difference.

Beautiful Bookshelves!

Tomorrow is Eid al Adha, or la Fête de Tabaski as it is known here, and Bamako is alive with people and sheep. The students at our school are off until next Thursday, and our new target opening date is November 14th, a week from Monday! Although we were a little disappointed to slow down, I think it will actually work out for the best since we will be better organized and our early operation won't be interrupted by the craziness of the fête.

Yesterday afternoon our furniture got delivered, and it looks amazing. Madou, our wonderful carpenter, made everything in sort of IKEA -style pieces which not only made it much easier for him to carry up the stairs, but will also be great for cleaning or if we have to move. Here is a picture of Madou and his assistant assembling the tables.

Actually seeing the bookshelves in place made the whole thing seem real, now I just wish we had enough books to fill them! Here are our beautiful shelves, our benches and tables, and Robert sitting at the librarians' new desk, which he thinks is great.

Anyway, the library continues to move towards completion, I can't wait to actually see kids using it!