Stephanie
Hartman
Final
Portfolio &
Special Project
Introduction
Special Project
Special Project
“Special Project” may be a bit of an understatement for my time in South Africa. Little did I know when I started this program over two years ago that I would take skills I was learning to a remote, rural village in KwaZulu-Natal. Not only did I get to use these important skills – but I also got to personally challenge myself to the limits. Volunteering in Africa was complicated and rewarding on so many levels. I like the diversity of challenges I faced – many in the name of librarianship (sooner or later, people will realize we are superheroes.)
This experience was obviously bigger than just imparting knowledge learned in this program and in past work experience on my new South African friends - it was about so much more. It was about learning as a fundamental right and luxury that I and so many others take for granted. It was about having access to material to read, let alone the ability to organize them. It was about sharing ideas and feelings about reading, books and literacy with a community that was at times, quite skeptical. And rightly so, why should they believe what I am saying or asking them to do? Given the country's past, their history, why should they listen to me? I asked myself the very same question – many times. But luckily for me, and hopefully for them, some did.
Many courses aided in my work in South Africa. Library Management (ILS 565) definitely came into play early. I was managing people – but needed to do so in a very careful way as there were so many cultural issues to keep in mind. I needed to get people excited and motivated about the project at hand, while being able to resolve conflicts that came up on a daily basis. I was working closely with three other volunteers – in what some might consider less than ideal circumstances. We each had different strengths, and managed different aspects of the project. We had to learn to work together ourselves (quite quickly) before we could be useful to our hosts.
The basis of libraries, learning and knowledge came into play over and over again – and while many courses lended to this understanding, none did so better than Foundations of Librarianship (ILS 503). I had a very bizarre, yet interesting discussion about Ranganathan and Melvil Dewey with a couple of teachers while painting. They were very interested to hear about libraries in the United States - as well as in other parts of the world. They felt they had some catching up to do.
Around week two, another volunteer and I gave a crash course in collection development. What I learned in Public Libraries, and Material & Services for Children, and Adolescents (ILS 511, 512, 561) proved indispensable. The collection plan was challenging. I had to help encourage one group of people that books were very worthwhile, while at the same time convincing another group that not everything that was in print was worth having in their library, relevant, or even worthwhile. We were building and weeding the collection simultaneously. There were countless preservation issues - brought on by extreme temperatures, leaking roofs, and bat guano. "Flying by the seat of my pants" would be an understatement, but we pulled together and got creative.
Programming was another challenge that we tackled creatively. We educated the teacher-librarians and the Library Learner Committee about the many exciting things they could do within the library to enthuse the school community. We talked about people in the area being resources they could draw from and invite in to talk about a wide range of topics from health issues to pest management in gardens. People are one of the greatest, and in a few areas one of the only, resources. ILS 511, 512, and 561 served me well when thinking about planning programs for a wide range of ages. Due to the limited resources in the community as a whole, it was decided that this library would serve the entire school community. Parents, alum, and students (both in the day school and the adult learning evening program) would be using the resources. Chess tournaments were planned, as were reading and writing competitions. A wide range of reading material in English, Zulu, and Afrikaans were necessary -- along with a wide range of reading levels.
I also got to put my knack of cataloging into play. While I did not learn the Dewey Decimal System in my cataloging course (ILS 506) – I did learn the basic notion of organizing books. And there were many things from the course I could draw upon – as we began doing very basic DDC cataloging for our library. In the end, we had passed on simple cataloging skills to about five teachers and teacher-librarians, with the hope that they would then teach others.
We also did basic reference training for which ILS 504 came in handy. Instructing the teacher-librarians on the art of the “reference interview” was another curious day. While their collection is very small – they do have some useful reference materials to help the students find what they are looking for. However, I believe the biggest challenge – for both teachers and students will simply to start thinking creatively about how they can use the resources to start asking and answering questions. The Zulu traditionally have an oral culture, so using books and print material to both hold information and disseminate information was new to some people in the community. We discussed encyclopedias, dictionaries, and newspapers as reference material – but again made sure to stress people and local organizations as information sources as well.
There were also challenges that could not be learned or prepared for, they were simply dealt with as they came along. Battling bats in the library and strategic placement of bookshelves away from their nesting areas was certainly at the top of the list. Daily fights with roaches and wasps while attempting to clean and paint the library. Trying to inspire teachers who were overworked and hadn’t been paid by the government in months, and perhaps most disturbingly looking an AIDS epidemic right in the face and realizing that a significant number of the people I was meeting and becoming friends with were likely to die of the disease.
And I must make one thing very, very clear. Contrary to my super-hero comment above, I was not the great savior that brought a library to this community. I, along with three others, helped members of the community realize a goal that several amazing educators had been working towards for years. However, I learned more from the people of Mbazwana, South Africa than I could have ever imparted on them. I only hope I left something of value behind….I like to think I did.
What follows is my official report of my time in KwaZulu-Natal. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed living it.
Proceed to final report...
Submitted
to the
Department
of Information
and Library Science
--
Southern Connecticut State
University
©2004
Updated on: April 26, 2004