The library project has been a complete success. The school followed through with its agreement to build the library building, complete with a room for the librarian looking out onto the library room. Once this was completed, we commissioned bookshelves and tables to be built by a local woodworker. Meanwhile, during 7 long days (accomplished in 2 trips to Dakar), I worked with one of my Senegalese friends to purchase the books. This was no simple process. Each day, we’d leave his house around 10 am to walk to the market. This particular market was known as a blackmarket with lots of “bandits,” but books could be bought cheaply and in good condition. If fact, some books were still in their original packaging, but could be purchased at nearly half the price of a new book. I don’t know where these books originated from (people stealing them, overstock in a factory/book store, the fact that the stallowners didn’t have to pay for the nice environment and employees at a bookstore), but it allowed me to buy many more books with the amount of money I had.
When bargaining for anything in Senegal, it’s important not to be in a rush. We’d arrive, greet the stall owners, joke around, and then get down to business. We’d state a few of the books we were looking for that day, and Mor (the main man we were working with) would go locate these books. Essentially, he’d walk around the market and find other stall owners who had the books that we wanted, buy them at a very cheap price (since they help each other out and sell at-price or with a very small margin of profit), return with the requested number of a particular book, and then sell them to us a higher price. In the meantime, we’d go to other stall owners near by, check out their stock, and request other books on our list. It was all a competition between stall owners to have us buy from them. They would make deals with us or promise us better prices than their neighbors. And they were all very sneaky; sometimes, one stall owner would stand nearby as we were trying to work out a deal with a different stall owner, so that he’d know how much we were paying.
We’d organize a stack of books that we wanted, and then my friend would begin the bargaining process. Though I’ve gotten fairly good at bargaining and often do it for my group of friends, I can’t compare to a native Senegalese. I just sat quietly while he began to speak about the price. First, he’d claim that it was too high, to which the stall owner would ask what he was willing to pay. My friend would quote an exorbitantly low price, and the stall owner would reply that that wasn’t possible, but he wants to continue doing business with us so he’d lower it. This would go back and forth for awhile, often with long breaks to joke about each other’s last time or to comment on something that was going on. Finally, we’d arrive at an affordable price, and we’d agree to buy the books. In general, pleasure books cost the equivalent of $1, literature for French class were $2, dictionaries were $4, textbooks were $3-8, and non-fiction books were $2-5. At first, we paid slightly more than these prices, but we quickly learned how low we could get the stall owner to go (and each time we got one man to go lower, we told the next man, and he’d go even lower). By the end, we had an effective system.
We would then ask for a box, and they’d fill an old carton with the books. We would then either continue with the same stall owner or move to another one. As my friend enjoyed saying, he wanted to give everyone a taste of our money. And, with about $6,000 to spend in the market, we were bringing in a fortune, and everyone wanted us to check out their stock. My favorite was when we were purchasing pleasure books. Then I could peruse the choices on the shelves and find books that I wanted the library to contain. My friend and the stall owners all laughed at me; they don’t really understand the concept of pleasure reading, but I enjoyed finding gems among their collections. I’d look for classics that I loved growing up. We also bought lots of African literature. And, I’d get excited whenever I’d find a fun non-fiction book that I thought the students would like. We got a nice chronology of events that occurred by year; though he only had 13 of the years between 1863 and today, it was still a great find.
Shopping in the market was really a matter of luck; we never knew what we’d actually find, and every day there were new items. We’d arrive, and stall owners would approach us with books to check out. Often, they were on obscure subjects or for very small children; many of the stall owners don’t understand what they’re selling and often can’t read French (in the market, Arabic seems to be more common to read). We thus had to continuously repeat what we were interested in, but also to appear pleased so that they would continue to look for books for us and to sell them at a good price. It was all a game. I was thankful to have been accompanied because I certainly wouldn’t have played it right by myself.
In total, I purchased or had organizations donate over 3,000 books (pleasure books and textbooks). After my first return from Dakar, I was worried about the number of books; the bookshelves looked fairly empty. But when I returned the second time and we placed the books on the shelves, I was ecstatic to see that the shelves were almost completely full (and there are still a few book donations on their way)! As the secretary put it, Am nanu bibliotheque bi! (We have a library!) As we unpacked all the books from the boxes, organized them, glued due date forms to the back of the books, stamped the books with the school name, and organized them alphabetically, the school director, secretary, and a few teachers came out to help. Numerous teachers and students couldn’t help stopping by as well to see what books there were and to inquire when they could start taking them out. They were all eager to begin reading.
On the first day of the library opening, before students could even take out books, 10 library cards had been bought. As of last week, over 160 students and all the teachers had purchased library cards to use the resources; every day, more are purchasing them. A card costs the equivalent of $0.40 for students and $2 for teachers, and allows yearlong access to take out books and sit in the library to use the books. Whenever I enter the library, it is packed with students studying at the tables during their 2-hour breaks between classes while a line forms out the door with students checking out or returning books. The secretary is so happy; he says this is much better than students going home to fool around or do chores at home during the break. He claims they have no excuse now not to succeed.
And certainly this is the case. Before the library, students only had access to 2 of the books they must read for French class during all of high school. The rest they learned by the teacher explaining the characters and plots, which they’d record in their notebooks and then be tested on. Now they have access to actually read the books. The same applies for textbooks. A few copies of textbooks were available, but not for every student and not for every subject. Now, any student can borrow a textbook for 5 days to read more about the subject or complete extra exercise. And, students are also reading for fun. I was so happy when I walked in one day and saw a few students sitting with smiles on their faces as they read. When time arrived for their class, they silently stood up, returned the book to the shelf, collected their bag from the librarian’s office, and continued on their way.
The library also is great. He is so devoted to his job. In a country where people arrive late, leave early, take long breaks, and don’t work much, he is the complete opposite. I have worked with him from 8-2:30 straight, then returned at 4 to find him already at work, and then left at 7 with him still working. (The school day is 8-1, 3-7; he had worked 8-2:30, 3-8.) When he puts the books away, he takes extra care to ensure they’re all standing up straight and that the layout of the books on the shelves looks pretty. He carefully records the books borrowed and returned, explains the library policy to students purchasing library cards, and chides students who return the book with bent pages. He quickly caught on to the idea of alphabetization, and he’s eager to attend a library training soon in the regional capital. I know that the library will thrive under his supervision.
So, after being open for about a month, the library is already providing valuable services to the students and teachers. They are all so happy to have these books, and I can’t stop smiling whenever I walk into the room. Books have formed such an important part of my life, and I’m so happy to be able to share it with them. This is by far my most successful project.
