Cameroon

Motorcycle libraries to fight against obscurantism

Since 2021, In the city of Maroua, two motorcycle libraries have been traveling the roads to meet locals in areas where the Boko Haram terrorist group is active. Supported by BSF and the local association Lire au Sahel, this project – called Moota Andal, “vehicle of knowledge” in Fulani – helps locals access books and reading material in a region without library infrastructure and with a record illiteracy rate (more than one young person out of four can neither read nor write). These motorcycles are fitted with an Ideas Cube and several hundred books that have been adapted to each audience engaging with the service.

A book-mobile in Yaoundé neighborhoods

Since 2016, the STREET CLAC book-mobile has roamed the peripheral neighborhoods of Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon, meeting the most underprivileged children and adolescents in different public places. The book-mobile offers thousands of books and digital resources via a KoomBook and tablets. CLAC, a local organization supporting reading and culture, has also provided job search support since 2015. In 2017, the program was expanded through the creation of an entrepreneurial course, guiding 15 young Cameroonians through the process of creating their own company, from the business plan, through the presentation of the product, to its production. In total, the STREET CLAC project reached more than 20,000 people. Today, even though the partnership with Bibliothèques Sans Frontières has ended, the book-mobile continues to travel and welcomes hundreds of people each week.

The “Young Leaders” program at the LWB Campus

From September 2015 to October 2016, LWB supported 33 young project managers, all under 35, coming from Senegal, Côte-d’Ivoire, and Cameroon, to develop their leadership, advocacy, and innovation skills. They participated in four week-long workshops focused on reflection and training led by national and international experts.

Support for the CLAC

LWB supports the CLAC of Yaoundé, one of the main cultural centers of the country, situated in Mimboman, a local eighborhood in the capital. Since 2011, we have worked alongside the CLAC to develop their collections, to create a workshop on bookbinding, and to train personnel to manage and preserve written works. In 2012, the CLAC tripled its coverage with the help of LWB, which allowed them to make use of a collection of more than 10,000 volumes from a multimedia space equipped with an Ideas Cube, a toy library, and a bookmobile, known as the Street CLAC, which began running in 2016. 

Since 2017, within the context of the Street CLAC project, LWB has assisted young project managers and coached them in workshops, meetings, and site visits, helping them to develop their abilities, refine their projects, and understand their respective markets. 

Donation Mission

Since 2007, Libraries Without Borders has collected books from institutions, editors, and individuals in France. Organized and referenced by the team and by volunteers at our collection center at Épône, the books sustain our projects and libraries all around the world, from refugee camps in Burundi to rural areas in France. In 13 years, we have sent 380,000 books to 30 countries. 

More than 30,000 books are referenced in our online catalogue, readily available to libraries and partner associations of LWB. Others are resold as second-hand goods or resold during monthly farmer’s markets  which help finance our actions. 

Since 2008, LWB has sent nearly 20,000 books to Cameroon.

Our projects in Cameroon

Development of the Center for Reading and Cultural Activities (CLAC) of Yaoundé
Objective

Access to education & culture

Start date

1231113600

Status

Closed

Background

Run by the Youth, Culture, and Development Association, the CLAC promotes access to information, provides an appealing access to reading, and each week organizes conferences, debates, and events in the capital of Yaoundé . Despite its success, the lack of financial resources for the project, which has little support from public associations, prevents the development of its activities.

Since September 2011, efforts to enlarge the CLAC were initiated in order to respond to the growing needs of the users, to make the common space more pleasant and functional, and to start the development of new cultural activities as well as possible revenue generators.

Activities

  • Rehabilitating and expanding the surface of the CLAC to include a youth space, a multimedia center, etc.
  • Strengthening the book collection by providing new paper books and digitizing part of the collection
  • Implementation of a cultural activities program
  • Training CLAC personnel to management, library techniques and cultural facilitation

Objectives

  • Extend the space and develop the activities of the CLAC.
  • Expand access to culture and information for the population of Yaoundé.
  • Establishment of autonomy of the CLAC.

Duration

2009 – 2012 (36 months)

Beneficiaries

  • The inhabitants of the community of Mimboman, including approximately 4,000 children and youth living in the neighborhood

WITH SUPPORT FROM

Executive partners

Financial partners

The Street CLAC: a mobile library for the CLAC of Yaoundé
Objective

Access to education & culture

Start date

1401667200

Status

Ongoing

Background

Following an ambitious program helping to develop a media center, training staff, increase book collections, and develop income-generating activities to ensure the financial autonomy of the Center for Reading and Cultural Activities (CLAC), LWB and the CLAC began working on a mobile library: the Street CLAC.

The Street CLAC is a mobile library who’s role is to expand the reach of the CLAC and provide access to reading, culture, and information to the population of Yaoundé. The Street CLAC is more than just a library because it offers children, teens, and illiterate women living in these neighborhoods access to new technologies, a rich and varied program of cultural activities, and thematic workshops to raise awareness on issues such as health, environment, and access to law.

Activities

  • Acquiring and customizing a bus into a mobile library.
  • Equipping the mobile library with books, IT material and more.

Objectives

  • Expand the reach of the CLAC’s activities outside of its walls.

Duration

2014-2016

Beneficiaries

  • The inhabitants of the capital Yaoundé

WITH SUPPORT FROM

Executive partners

Financial partners