A new chapter in PNG literacy
The founder of the Buk bilong Pikinini libraries is excited about a fledgling partnership to create books specifically for PNG children.
Q: What is Buk bilong Pikinini?
A: An organisation which seeks to increase literacy rates in Papua New Guinea by establishing children’s libraries and running early childhood literacy classes.
Q: How many libraries are there?
A: We have 16 across five PNG provinces, and more to come. The first was established
at Port Moresby General Hospital in 2008.
Q: Why did you start them?
A: I was shocked to find that there were virtually no public libraries in PNG, not many bookshops and that less than 50 per cent of school-aged children were enrolled at school. A book/ literacy drought, to say the least!
Q: Where are the libraries?
A: They are near marginalised communities where access to literacy materials and valuable learning opportunities are almost non-existent. Our libraries are stocked with 3000 children’s books and have a minimum of two highly trained (by us) teacherlibrarians. Our aim is to foster a love of
reading and learning. We do this by running a comprehensive literacy, numeracy and awareness program for children aged 4-6 years in the mornings and by supporting both school children and out-of-school children with normal library services and reading support in the afternoons.
Q: Where do you get the books?
A: We source all of our new and secondhand books in Australia, from publishing houses and private book drives.
Q: And now you are also creating books, not just lending them?
A: I have always found that it is important for PNG children to be able to read books written for them, which show the world around them and which present their culture, their history and their lives. Since the first library we have tried to source books produced locally – only to find that there are very few for the age groups and low-literacy levels for the children we serve.
I therefore decided to hold an author’s writing seminar in May 2014 to encourage Papua New Guineans to write and illustrate books for young children. We invited local publishers and authors to present, and also Alison Lester (former Children’s Laureate and one of the most successful children’s book authors in Australia) and Andrew Kelly of Wild Dog Books to help us run the seminar.
During that week we also managed to produce three books, and we hope to be able to do many more.
Q: And you have just published
Our Village: Tatana Island.
A: Our Village: Tatana Island has been produced in partnership with Andrew Kelly and the children of the Tatana Island village.
It is a photographic early reader, which suits the literacy levels of children coming to our libraries and is an educational book about life in a traditional PNG fishing village. It suits our criteria for showing PNG culture and PNG nationals.
The images for the book were taken on the same day that we opened the library for the children on the island.
A group of children were given digital cameras and they showed us around their village, both inside and outside their houses. We met a nice array of “pets” as well – pigs, dogs, fish – saw dinner being prepared and people enjoying village life.
Andrew Kelly has an amazing eye for detail and has in addition to helping us produce this book also donated many books to Buk bilong Pikinini that the children greatly enjoy because of the large images and text.
Q: Where is the book available?
A: It is sold in PNG through Theodist and people can also contact me (annesophie@bukbilongpikinini.org) to order copies. We are planning to produce a series of readers about PNG, its people, as well as its nature/ animals.