Proud to be a LIBRARIAN!!! Love the L-sign

Literacy Builder Hosea Tokwe arrived at the Matenda School on July 6, 2007, carrying two boxes of books donated by a former student; he was determined to launch the poor rural school’s first library. It was a tumultuous time in Zimbabwe, however, and the community in Matenda greeted him with suspicion. They feared he was not actually a librarian at Midlands State University Library but an opposition political agent sent to stir up trouble. Tokwe convinced them that setting up a library was his only goal, and for the next ten months he regularly made the difficult 100-kilometer trip from Gweru. “I had to walk 25 km from the main road and move in the bush by foot to deliver book donations,” he recalls. He enlisted local stakeholders like the school development committee and Matenda’s chief and headmen. He hired local carpenters to build bookshelves. In April 2008, the Matenda school library opened, its collection bolstered by 18 boxes of books, most donated from

 THE first issue of ZimLA News is coming out after its discontinued for a while due to a plethora of challenges. A lot has been affecting the operations of ZimLA lately,but the renewal of ZimLA as a professional association catapulted by efforts of Tendekai Gift Bhowa well known as Bhowa TG has  set an incredible pace towards its resurrection. http://zimla.org.zw/sites/default/files/ZimLA%20news.pdf

ZimLA Conference proceedings on ZimLA Website http://www.zimla.org.zw/node/24  

Following on from the success of ZIMLA Annual Conference 2014 at A’Zambezi River Lodge, Victoria Falls, we are once again pleased to announce that the call for papers for the ZIMLA Conference 2015 is now open. The conference will take place on 23-25 June 2015 at Caribbea Bay, Kariba. Library and information practitioners will meet under the theme “Libraries driving the economy: a 21 st century trajectory”. The 2015 conference will seek to inspire our delegates, share knowledge, ignite debate and provide networking opportunities. It will cover a broad range of issues from across the library, information and knowledge professions. The conference will build on the successful strategy behind ZIMLA/IFLA Strategic Plan, to strengthen ZIMLA as a National Association and help it to dialogue and discuss the opportunities for creating successful 21 st century libraries that contribute and prioritize development in line with national developmental agendas such as the Zimbabwe’s

We seek to mobilize resources for the establishment and development of library services in underprivileged rural schools in Zimbabwe. We need your help to ship books that we have collected and more that will be collected to the rural schools in Zimbabwe.We are aiming to ship containers of books that we collect around New Zealand from well wishers.So we need the funds to accomplish this task .We also want to be able to purchase new books written in the local languages of Zimbabwe for the same schools so that there is a balance between the foreign and local resources. https://givealittle.co.nz/org/zimbabweruralschoolslibrarytrust

 Dorothy Duncan Braille Library and Rehabilitation Centre founded 25 years ago by the legendary Sister Catherine Jackson offers an impressive array of services for the visionally impaired, helping them to re-establish themselves and live normal lives. Read more here http://www.hararenews.co.zw/2015/02/touching-the-light-hope-for-zimbabwes-blind/ http://www.hararenews.co.zw/2015/02/touching-the-light-hope-for-zimbabwes-blind/  

IN this article, Tonderayi Chanakira talks about how he managed to publish his first book titled Tonderayi’s Way: Memories of a Diaspora Librarian, to become an author and what inspired him to write his own book. HE also talks about the difficulties of publishing a book from the time it is originated as a manuscript to the time it gets to printers. Chanakira urges fellow librarians to write their own books as a way of contributing to the development of the book industry in Namibia as well as developing the library profession in general. I have worked in the library industry for a period clocking 27 years now and this was a major driver that inspired me to think of writing my own book as I felt I had my own library story line to contribute to a profession I have served for many years. https://www.newsday.co.zw/2015/03/07/the-experience-of-writing-your-own-book-as-a-librarian/

ZIMBABWE NATIONAL POLICY FOR INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT)2014 APPROVED BY CABINET 2014 https://cmchimakure.wordpress.com/2015/03/12/zims-new-ict-policy-in-full/