Building a School Library in South Africa        

 Dear Friends and Colleagues:              

 WE DID IT — and we do mean “we”! With the help of dozens of committed volunteers, generous financial donations, and much donated labour and in-kind support from businesses, we have SHIPPED A LIBRARY to A.V. Bukani Primary School in Addo, South Africa.     

 

The shipment of 25,000 books — a large library even for a school in the U.S.– is now on its way aboard the MSC Levina  Through donated funds, we were able to purchase the 40-foot shipping container which now carries the books. Once in South Africa, the container will be trucked to the school, fitted with windows and doors, and it will become the library! The vast majority of the books are libary-ready with a card with the book’s name in a library pocket, as well as a color-coded label on the spine. There are also wonderful teacher resources.                

 

        

 There are enough books for us to share with other nearby elementary schools as well as the local middle and high schools. We also have some adult books for the municipal libary. It is an amazing collection of high-quality books that will certainly change lives!                

 Read recent updates, see photos, and read entries through the years on our blog  www.KuglersinSouthAfrica.blogspot.com.                

 Contact Eileen and Larry to find out more  TheKuglerFamily@gmail.com     

A recent press interview with Eileen     

“Several schools and educational organisations in America ran book drives for new or gently used children’s books. Volunteers put library pockets and cards in each book, sorted them into categories and labelled each book”.
“When my husband and I arrive at the school in August, we will be training the teachers on how to use the books in instruction, and working with the students and their families on how to use a lending library,” said Kugler.
AV Bukani principal Zilindile Thambo said the school had a literature books shortage and was in an area where there was no library. “The books will not only help the school but the whole community of Nomathamsanqa township.”
Larry and Eileen Kugler launched the library project in South Africa after volunteering at the school for two years. They had come to the country through a people and places project which helped them to experience township life.
Larry, a retired elementary school teacher and administrator in Fairfax schools, and Eileen, the author of a book about the benefits of diversity in schools, first travelled to South Africa in 2006 on an educational tour of its schools.
In 2008, along with their daughter Sara, who is a literacy specialist, they taught 950 pupils computer skills at AV Bukani.”