Villagers of Goi celebrate their new library!

Librarians from Accra travelled to Goi to attend the opening.


Vivian Amanor, Goi's librarian, and Kwame Modzeka, our remarkable carpenter, witness the occasion with pride.

An inspiring path leads to the library!

Hannah Opoku-Agyeman, the head librarian of the Nima Library, leads the float to commemorate the 10th anniversary.

Director's Letter

Dear Friends:

My visit to Ghana this past June was especially exciting because it included the 10th anniversary of our Nima Maamobi Gale Community Library and the opening of a new library in Goi, a fishing village one hour from Accra, Ghana’s capital.

It is hard to believe that more than ten years have passed since we were given a derelict building on barren ground at the edge of a deprived area in Accra. Now, you can hardly see the Nima Library from the main road, thanks to the abundant trees in the garden and colourful bougainvillea decorating the fence. Each day children eagerly wait at the door for the library to open. They come to read their favourite books, fix locally-made jigsaw puzzles and meet their friends. Librarians greet the children as their own and work hard to maintain an attractive learning environment.

Our dedicated librarian, Hannah Agyeman, and her staff organized a full week of 10th anniversary activities, including a lively spelling bee with teams from five libraries, a float that carried library members around the town and a cultural performance with dancing and drumming. Acrobats, who are also members of the literacy class, entertained us with enthusiasm!

The Goi Library opened on June 20th with cultural dancing, singing by the school choir, drama and numerous speeches. Vivian Amanor, their remarkable librarian, took great pride in seeing her dream of a free-standing library become a reality. Melissa Sarrasin, a graduate of the University of Manitoba School of Architecture, who designed the building under the supervision of Roger Amenyogbe, a Ghanaian Canadian-born architect, attended the opening. Our loyal mason, Bright Asare, supervised the construction and, as per usual, added his own touches, including mosaic-tiled sayings promoting reading on the pathway leading up to the front door! Vivian has already planted grass and trees and, with the current rainy season, it won’t take long for the surroundings to become green.

On the commissioning day, we hired a bus to bring all our library staff from Accra to witness the event. After the ceremony, they walked on the beach and enjoyed freshly felled coconuts. The new library has already made its mark on the whole region. Just days after its opening, teachers from nearby villages began bringing their students to enjoy the books and games.

In August, a 10-day reading camp was organized in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service and made possible by a grant from the Chen Yet-Sen Foundation of Hong Kong. We brought together 150 children from four libraries and a number of government schools for a concentrated period of reading with resource teachers. Given the success of this year’s event, it will be an annual program.

For the second year in a row, Eric Rose, a theatre director from Calgary, and his wife, Caitlin Gallichan-Lowe, a drama teacher, spent three weeks with our library members helping them develop theatre skills. At the end of the session, the Nima drama troupe performed The Legend of Aku Sika in front of an audience of 250. Martin Owusu, a playwright and professor from the University of Ghana, attended the performance, and was so impressed that he invited the troupe to perform the play in his large theatre at the university this month. Martin Adjei, the troupe’s director, is excited about this amazing opportunity to perform in a professional theatre! (see article)

In addition to events and programs, my last visit was also filled with taking pictures for two new books, My Happy Book, featuring seven-year-old Peace, and Crocodile Bread! In August, the Osu Library Fund, our sister charity in Ghana, registered as a member of the Ghana Book Publishers Association.

I will be returning to Ghana in late October. We are planning a two-day workshop for children’s book publishers during the Ghana International Book Fair. It will be followed by a four-day workshop for children’s book illustrators with Niki Daly, an acclaimed South African illustrator. I will also be meeting officials from the Ghana Education Service regarding a new children’s library in Accra.

There is always a new and exciting project on the horizon!

Kathy Knowles

April 2007 | January 2008 | Kathy's bio