Publications

It is important to have meaningful and easy-to-read books for African children. When OCLF started in 1990, there were very few children’s books published in Ghana. Fortunately, that is now improving. OCLF does its best to purchase books in Africa, thereby endorsing the local book industry and providing children with culturally appropriate books. OCLF also buys books in local languages but, unfortunately, very few titles are available.

In 2002, OCLF partnered with Sub-Saharan Publishers of Accra to initiate a series of stories about Fati, a little girl in Northern Ghana. Fati and the Honey Tree, the first in the series, received financial support from Manitoba Council of International Cooperation

In 2006, OCLF embarked on an initiative to publish photo-illustrated books for early readers. According to Joseph Abongo from northern Ghana, “…they are excellent locally produced materials and very ordinary for the rural child to comprehend. Osu Children’s Library should keep up this classic masterpiece for it will highly motivate every child everywhere in the country to read them always.”

In 2006 and with support from the Chen Yet-Sen Foundation, OCLF published a four-part series called Literacy Changed My Life based on real life stories drawn from our literacy classes.

In 2007, and again with support from Manitoba Council of International Cooperation, OCLF produced a three-part series highlighting Ghana’s natural resources.

OCLF has also published books in Swahili, Jula and French. In September 2011, Chantal Compaoré, the First Lady of Burkina Faso, was presented with four OCLF books in Jula on the occasion Peace Corps Burkina’s 50th Anniversary.

Comments from Dustin Ciufo, a volunteer who worked at an orphanage in Ghana in 2010. He purchased OCLF books before his placement: “I don’t know how I can adequately express how much the children LOVED the books. It was so remarkable to see the children continually reading them over and over, day after day, wanting the books read time and again!”