I celebrate libraries because they are national treasures that we must support. Let me convince you. I identify as a library lover and discovered this when volunteering as a library assistant at Karatu Library. The revelations must be shared.
Karatu Library is a quaint little library in a complex of stores in Yola bye-pass.
Efadah Udoh and former AUN librarian Martha Spiers co-founded Karatu Library. They set up shop at No. 30-31 Amanna shopping complex P O Box 1071 Lamido Zubairu Way, Yola. Martha Spiers supports the library from her home in Boston, while our head librarian, co-founder, and Manager, Efadah Udoh, runs the place and maintains it. You might never know it was there if you were not looking for it. Karatu is a Non-Governmental Organization, so we are funded through donations and can’t afford to employ any staff, but our Librarian and volunteers keep the place running. The library receives up to 5,000 patrons yearly, and we hope to receive more.
A library could have a million meanings to a person. A library to me means cold cubicles in high school and shelves filled with books; my heart and hands tremble with excitement, and I pray to be able to read every single book there before I graduate. In primary school, we spent only one hour of the week at the library, with a single book designated to a student. I, who often lost my library card, usually never got to participate in that measly hour, and I was thus left book-hungry for many years, yearning to go beyond syllabus-required books and the books my parents got for me. My history with books has made me enamored with libraries: a place anyone could go, free of charge.
Karatu Library is where children can come, free of charge, to exert their reading desires. The children we get are mainly primary school children, trooping in on weekdays after school hours, still in school uniforms, eager to read. The children are unique and friendly. An intelligent girl of the bunch loves to read aloud to me. As she reads, she explains the book to me like I couldn’t understand on my own; another boy is strong-willed and quiet, often reading on his own in a corner of the library.
When the children are done reading, they amuse themselves with educational games like chess, and we get to watch them relate, argue, and humor each other. This atmosphere can only be created in a place like Karatu Library, outside the formalities of school.
One thing important to the library is aesthetics. By aesthetics, we refer not only to cleanliness but also to beauty. We take great pride in decorating our space to make it pleasant and inviting to the children we are trying to market ourselves to. While the children come for books, they often stay for the environment. “Most of the children come from poor families”, Mr. Udoh says, “and when they come here and see how clean and pretty everything is, they don’t want to leave”. To add to this appeal, the library holds events commemorating events like Children’s Day and World Art Day.
Karatu Library has formed a community. It shocked me at first how many adults came around to the library to read, talk, or leave a greeting. This community is what keeps us going day to day. Getting up early, coming to the library, getting things ready, supervising often naughty children, and leaving late is a challenging job for Mr. Udoh. Yet he does it every day without complaint. This library constitutes an excellent dream for him, and the people who come around so often support this dream simply by being there. They add an extraordinary life to the library, giving the environment an air of friendliness and a unique charm.
(Book tea discussion)
There are many ways to get involved and support Karatu Library. You could donate, volunteer, or come around and say hello, spreading the word about our foundation as you do so. We have a section for adult books, a variety of board games, and intelligent, kind people to talk to, so even if you are an adult, please visit us. You can check out more about us at our website, www.Karatu.org, or through our line: 08036254176.
Blog post by Chelsea Awang, past AUN Writing Center tutor
