Recognizing the critical need for children to learn to read in their first language, and the need to preserve Zambian culture, the Lubuto Library Project works to acquire and make available traditional Zambian stories. But there are an insufficient number of Zambian language materials currently available in Zambia for children to maintain and develop reading fluency in their local languages. Two collections on this site are being developed to address these needs. | |
ZAMBIAN STORIES | ZAMBIAN LANGUAGE READING PROGRAMS |
Lubuto's volunteers are working to identify and scan Zambian stories long out of print but preserved in libraries worldwide. Our site will serve as a repository for these scanned books to inspire young readers, encourage adaptation of these traditional stories to new picture books and other uses. The initial collection is comprised of materials found in the African and Middle Eastern Reading Room of the United States Library of Congress. The collection will grow as more materials are identified and scanned from other sources. |
Under a sub-grant from the eIFL.net Public Library Innovation Program, for which eIFL.net received a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Lubuto is training Zambian reading teachers and others trained in the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) Etoys application, to create early reading programs in Zambian languages. These programs will be available through this site as open-source applications for the OLPC XO laptops and other platforms. |
