Eastleigh Library

 

Information:

The Eastleigh Library opened in November 2002. The British Army aided us in creating the library. They also paid for re wiring, damp proofing, and made all the shelving , and provided the carpet. The army staff trained the youth of Eastleigh library in all of these skills.

When the library building was ready we added the library book stock. This was donated by the British Royal Airforce. 4 members of MYSA staff were trained in library classification, colourcoding, A- Z, and cataloguing. The staff were later trained in storytelling using books - where English is a second language.

No books can be removed from the library building.

 

these are the people that

come to our libraries. They need our help

 

 

 

 

The library is starting to run so much better, the staff are also starting to enjoy running the library. The people are also enjoying working and going to the library on a regular basis.

Challenges and Solutions

The library is housed in a rented building. Unfortunately the landlord dosen't maintain the building and also increases the rent on a regular basis. We have had raw sewerage flowing through the building twice in two years. The building is riddles with damp, has very little natural lighting, and no flow of air to prevent damp.

We need to find land which we can build a purpose built library and will support the population. We have found land in the Eastleigh , but the costs within this area are extremely high:- over 4 million Kenyan Shillings for land alone.

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Initially the library staff often did not turn up for work but since we started pay they began to come. We need donor help to support this as well.

Visitors and donors

We have had many visitors over the two years we have been open. From Sir Bobby Charlton, to the Prince of Holland. Future visitors will be regularly featured on this page!

Membership and staffing

We have three staff members at Eastleigh library, one of whome is paid, th eother two are unpaid volunteers.

We currently have a membership of 980. The following institutions use the library:-

Achievements

Reading club. This meets every Saturday. The group - of adults and childen- talk about books, writing, and drama.

Lending. We are now able to lend books to members of our library club. Only fiction can be borrowed and only for a few days. If books are returned late or lost MYSA points are deducted.

Drama group and Storytelling. Zero (Onyango Owino) helps the children by telling stories in many languages, so prommoting the perpetuity of traditional storytelling.

Class visits to the library.

Staff visits to local schools to tell about ht elibrary and tell stories.

 

This page was done by Ryan Chenje