About Osu Children’s Library Fund [OCLF]
Photo by Nyani Quarmyne
We are a team — Osu Children’s Library Fund, Canada and Osu Library Fund, Ghana—and share the same mission: to bring books and literacy skills to African children and adults.
Recognizing that most African children have little or no access to storybooks, OCLF helps to build libraries and stock them with carefully chosen books. Caring and trained personnel create safe and colourful environments. Outreach includes literacy classes for those who have never been to school, thereby improving their self esteem and job prospects.
Ghanaians appreciate the importance of literacy and they request our assistance because it has proven to be effective and reliable. OCLF works at the grassroots level, and seeks the support and participation from members of the host community.
Kathy Knowles, founder and volunteer director, runs OCLF from her Winnipeg home in partnership with a Canadian and Ghanaian Board of Directors, African librarians and community participants. She visits Ghana twice a year to oversee library projects and occasionally other African countries.
OCLF’s Mission Statement
To develop a network of libraries designed to promote reading for children and literacy opportunities for adults who have not attended school;
To extend the outreach services of each library where there is community and financial support, e.g. cultural dancing, drama, high school scholarships and food programmes;
To seek and encourage the involvement of local communities, to respect their ideas and contributions and to help them to strive towards sustainability in their projects;
To maintain close working relationships with local authorities whose financial support is vital to the long term sustainability of the libraries.
OCLF’s Vision Statement
To raise sufficient funds to meet ongoing needs of existing projects, including repair and maintenance of buildings, and to cover the costs of new projects as they arise;
To encourage local staff to manage their own projects, while offering encouragement and modest financial support when necessary;
To provide and, if possible, to create culturally appropriate books, especially for early readers;
To support staff in their efforts to attain personal growth and job satisfaction despite their relatively low salaries provided through local sources.