Ethiopia Reads

See schedule o.libraries: alongside our established public libraries in addis ababa and hawassa, we have established 75 school libraries and run horse and donkey mobile libraries. Furthermore, we inaugurated our second donkey mobile library program, operating in hawassa, a large regional city, which travels and provides engaging reading activities across various neighborhoods. Additionally, we have also expanded our services by establishing a new community library within the largest housing complex in the capital city, addis ababa, serving over 2000 children annually.books: we received and distributed, free of charge, a substantial shipment of english language books from book aid in the uk to schools and libraries across the country. Furthermore, we undertook the reprinting of 25,000 better-quality children storybooks written locally and derived from five prominent children's books writers and distributed to public and government school libraries.moreover, we licensed and reprinted more than 5000 copies of high quality popular out-of-print titles from local writers, and donated them to 4 public libraries, 1 private school, 1 international organization, and 14 government schools. Through collaboration with the addis ababa mayor's office - early childhood development coordination program, we donated 10,000 local language storybooks for new pre-primary schools and daycare centers to support the capital's early childhood development program.professional development: over the years, we have developed professional training courses tailored for librarians and educators and focused on children's reading, known as the book-centered learning curriculum (bcl). This curriculum has been implemented in 24 schools which were facing challenges in library services. Moreover, we conducted librarian training sessions and discussions for a partner network of 22 schools, involving librarians, school principals, and language teachers.furthermore, we organized a series of writing and illustrating workshops aimed at enhancing the skills and knowledge of local children's book writers. These workshops focused on improving the writing quality and incorporating scientific information into children's literature, empowering writers to produce high-quality books.advocacy: - in 2022, we organized a very successful 3rd children's national reading summit, bringing together 190 participants from schools, professionals, government offices, and ngos. The aim was to boost children's reading and literacy. The summit included research presentations, sharing experiences, various events, and lively discussions. This is the only open professional conference focused on children's reading.- we organized family literacy events at our public libraries, inviting the families of children who frequently use our libraries and educating them about the importance of reading at home with their children and empower them with skills and important information - we commissioned a major research project to compile a bibliography of children's books printed over the past 15 years, to document the landscape of children's literature in the country.- we successfully reached approximately 60,000 in online communities through our various social media platforms, enhancing a passion for reading and fostering a better reading culture within the community.