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.