LWB - Angola

Working with our Angolan partners, the Catholic Archdiocese of Huambo, LWB is helping to develop Biblioteca Tutangi, a desperately needed nursing and medical Portuguese language library that will support the learning needs of university and college students in Huambo. To date, students have never had access to an official library.

The Archbishop of Huambo strongly believes in the importance of education for community empowerment. To that end, he is establishing the Centro Cultural João Paulo II - a cultural center in Huambo that will include facilities for Open University distance learning study and a library, Biblioteca Tutangi. The library will be open to everyone in the community, regardless of ethnicity or religion, but its collections and services will initially target highschool and university students, instructors, and working professionals.

While a facility now exists, the library is without books or trained library staff. So, our challenge is to fill the library's empty shelves, populate it with skilled support staff, and establish a plan that ensures its long-term viability.

During Winter 2006, LWB members and our Angolan partners began to identify Portuguese nursing and medical resources for the collection and to undertake the planning necessary to acquire these materials. If you would like to assist in our future fundraising for this project, read about how to donate.

But, in keeping with the "without borders" name, our long-term plan is to enable supporters to collaborate on-site with Angolan library staff, by providing collection development and maintenance support, and assisting with information literacy instruction for staff and users alike. LWB will also work with Angolan library staff to create a professional development strategy, which could include association memberships and conference participation.

Project Updates

With our partners, we have identified and prioritized the needs of the library, and also consulted with others working in the area. The nursing/medical collection was chosen as the priority of Phase I.

Collection Design

In Winter 2006, we developed a list of suggested Portuguese nursing/medical titles with the input of our Angola project liaison. In late May, a partner member took this list to Angola to be reviewed by key people in the schools and community, where they will select and rank the titles, indicate the number of desired copies, and specify any subject areas that have not been addressed. Their feedback and recommendations will be used to further tailor the collection to their needs.

At the same time that we were designing the initial collection, we began developing a program to raise the necessary funds for purchasing these costly medical resources. This campaign, known as Sponsor-a-Book, is projected for launch in 2008. Individuals and organizations will be able to directly assist Biblioteca Tutangi by fundraising for a particular subject area and running local campaigns suited to their workplaces and communities.

Development Plan

At the same time in Summer 2006, we continued to research and create a development plan for the library, with recommendations about how each of their needs (including a secure energy source, Internet access, and professional training) can be addressed.

If you would like to provide input and suggestions into how we can meet some of the needs that were mentioned, please contact us.