HCL Newsletter, October 2019

(Official newsletter of the Harare City Library)

INTRODUCTION

We welcome you all to our October newsletter, hoping that you enjoyed the previous newsletter. In this latest issue, we celebrate literacy which undoubtedly is the backbone of enlightenment.  The celebration of International Literacy Day we had last month at the library was a memorable event that showcased young talent and also certain ideas relevant to the library were shared. We invite you to come and make use of the library as a venue for your events. Enjoy!

HCL DETERMINED TO PROMOTE LITERACY

The Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Prof P Mavhima, speaking at the celebration of literacy held at the Harare City Library last month

The Harare City Library last month celebrated International Literacy Day which also presented an opportunity to reflect on the history of the library, its place in the global village and the future.

Running under the theme Literacy and Multilingualism in the Era of Inclusivity, the event was honored with the presence of the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Prof P Mavhima who said the theme was relevant because Zimbabwe is part of the global village. Also present was Mr. Farai Mpfunya, the Executive Director of Culture Fund Zimbabwe Trust, who tackled the topic ‘Libraries as Cultural Institutions’.

Five schools from Harare attended the celebration, provided musical entertainment and engaged in reading activities with senior writer Virginia Phiri while another writer Nomsa Ngwenya read passages from her Ndebele novel Izinyawo Zayizolo. The poet Dalitso thrilled the audience with his spoken word antics.

In his speech, Prof Mavhima viewed multilingualism as a major means of bringing multicultural understanding and achieving national development.

“Multilingualism is the basis upon which we can dialogue and co-exist, which leads to a better understanding of different states,” he said.

He highlighted why Zimbabwe should embrace multilingualism, saying people should accept the fact that youngsters are not going to be constrained to work in Zimbabwe only but for the global village and hence the need to prepare them through various means.

The new curriculum, he said, is structured in such a way that it embraces multilingualism and multiculturalism.

“We have taken the development of our languages very seriously. We now have sixteen officially recognized languages, including sign language,” he said.

Prof Mavhima added that languages such as Tonga are now being taught up to the Ordinary Level in all districts where the language is predominant.

“Proactively developing these languages is a way to building a nation. A proactive approach will make every group comfortable in being identified as a Zimbabwean,” said Minister Mavhima.

 He added that reading is what develops communication skills and people with good communication skills are considered to be good leaders.

 Mr. Mpfunya, Executive Director of Culture Fund, addressed the most difficult question asked each time cultural workers gather. What is culture?

He said there are two standpoints from which culture is viewed, that is, the traditional and the modern. However, he defined culture as ‘a process that looks at how people before us lived and responded to their daily needs of existence, things that allowed them to conquer the daily challenges. This process, he stressed, looks at the requirements and needs of today and then tries to see how we are responding to the challenges. He told guests at the commemoration that we also need to imagine how we may want to live in the future as we enter what is being called the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which is an introduction of artificial knowledge into our daily lives. We have to start imagining what that is doing to what we call culture.

As regards the library in this definition of culture, Mr. Mpfunya said libraries need to go back to the past, assess the present and look into the future and by ‘future’ he said he means the ‘machine-dominated life’.

How refreshing it was to hear the truth from a culture expert that ‘knowledge and understanding of literacy did not start recently or in the colonial era, but started thousands of years ago on the continent of Africa.

“I think people in the past perceived libraries differently. Libraries were integrated into society – a life that was centered on interacting, they were spaces where one could ask questions. If young people are to understand the value of literacy, it is important that they first understand what culture is and they should not be subjugated to ignorance,” said Mr. Mpfunya.

Echoing the Minister’s call for young people to use the library as a space for innovation, Mr. Mpfunya said, “The library is going to be a place for knowledge and dreaming. The library is a very important player in aligning young people to be empowered by the power of dreaming and daring to imagine things none in their families or suburbs ever imagined. Libraries become spaces for innovation, challenging ideas and soon we will have ‘made-in-Zimbabwe’ inventions.”

The history of the current Harare City Library is an inspiring one. At the celebration, Mr. Chandaengerwa, a committee member of the HCL, provided a brief but amazing story of how a reading and recreation club in the pre-independent era developed through the years to become a resourceful city library.

From a club it evolved to become a small subscription-funded public library known as the Salisbury Public Library. The relationship between the library and the city council, which exists today, dates back to 1898 when the then Salisbury Town Council appointed a library committee.

The development of the library to its present day status, Mr. Chandaengerwa said, has demonstrated that the library is a bastion of excellence in terms of literacy.

 “It being an all-encompassing resource centre, it has seen people from all walks of life patronizing it and pursuing different life-changing careers. The HCL has helped mould the culture of reading which is critical to the development of this country especially in this environment where digital changes mean that if we are left behind we will not make it as a nation,” he said.

He too extended the call to young students present at the event to make use of the library. Young people, he said, are the real diamonds of this nation.

Students from Tafara 5 Primary School, Selborne Routledge School, Malbereign Girls High, and Kuwadzana 2 Primary School had a good time with Virginia Phiri who, on behalf of the International Board for Books for Young People (IBBY) which she chairs, engaged them in reading exercises and gave out book prizes.

Images from the Event

Teachers from different schools also received small donations of books from IBBY

A student reads a book

Virginia Phiri engaged students present at the celebration

Nomsa Ngwenya reading from her Ndebele novel Izinyawo Zayizolo

The Minister receiving a gift from the HCL committee member Mr. Chandaengerwa

 

Writers enjoying the proceedings

Some of the delegates

Every speech at the celebrations was interpreted in sign language

Poet Dalitso performing

Mr. Mpfunya presenting his speech

 

Mr. Chandaengerwa speaking

Disability does not mean inability: Beauty Ngwende, a visually impaired student from Mabelreign Girls High, playing the guitar.

Reading time!

Reading Time!

From left: Tsitsi Nomsa Ngwenya, Virginia Phiri, Culture Fund Executive Director Farai Mpfunya and Writers International Network Zimbabwe founder and director Beaven Tapureta

HCL HOSTS 2019 SHOKO FESTIVAL

 

The Harare City Library has become a perennial venue for the Magamba Network event. Shoko Festival is one of Zimbabwe’s international festivals of urban culture.

For a long time the festival has used the library as one of its major venues and this choice of venue has proved the potential of the space provided by the library for such activities of such immense magnitude.

This year, Shoko Festival ran under the theme Good Vibes Only from and some of its workshops were hosted by the library from September 27 to 29. The workshops included those on ‘Intellectual Property, Publishing Rights and Record Labels’, ‘Music Management’, and ‘State of the Internet’.

The HCL Assistant Librarian Takwana Masunda has urged individuals and organizations to take advantage of the library’s proximity to the city centre and its comfortable and hospitable facilities for their events.

HEALTH MATTERS!

Don’t Forget To Visit Our Resourceful ‘Consumer Health Corner’

The books available at the Health Corner were donated by the Rotary Club which received them from the Harare Distribution Committee of the Book Aid International. This information was left out in the article about the Health Corner launch in our previous newsletter. 

SOME GOOD NEWS!

Active Marketing International, a marketing, public relations and advertising consultancy, has come close to you now. The company provides services such as printing, binding, lamination, exhibition stands design, vehicle branding, billboards, screen printing, and embroidery. Visit the Harare City Library offices for more information.

THANK YOU FOR READING OUR NEWSLETTER