June 3, 2022 Dear Friends, After a month away, much of it spent in the bustling city of Accra where traffic is ever-present and concrete covers much of the land, it was soothing to arrive back in Winnipeg and see its emerging green canopy. (When I left in late April, our city was still covered …
December 10, 2021 Dear Friends, Once again I am writing from my desk in Winnipeg, nice and cosy from Winnipeg’s cold air. I celebrated a number of events including the 10th anniversary of the Accra College of Education Community Library. Matilda Yeboah, its head librarian, organized a full program that included an eight-school reading competition, …
June 17, 2021 Dear Friends, I returned to Winnipeg this week, the trip home being a little longer given my mandatory three-day hotel stay in Toronto. Our daughter Sophie kindly brought me ice cream and her family waved from outside the hotel’s parking lot to my fourth floor window. It gave me a glimpse as to …
DIRECTOR’S NEWSLETTER December 11, 2020 Dear Friends, Returning to Winnipeg from Ghana on Dec. 7 was different this year. Normally in early December, following my annual November visit, there is a joyful hum as people in the city exchange holiday greetings and prepare for extended family gatherings. This time, however, the streets are quiet and …
DIRECTOR’S NEWSLETTER April 3, 2020 Dear Friends, I am writing to you on behalf of Osu Children’s Library Fund volunteers in Canada and our librarians in Ghana to update you on the effect of COVID-19 upon our libraries. This pandemic is a world event and collectively countries are weeping for those in its path. Ghana’s first …
Director’s Letter May 25, 2016 Dear Friends, I returned from Ghana two weeks ago and continue to admire the dedication of our hardworking staff and celebrate the enthusiasm of our library members and adult literacy students. In 2015, we recorded 283,382 visits. Lizzy and her newborn. My month-long visit included events reflecting the passage of time: …
DIRECTOR’S NEWSLETTER December 12, 2019 Dear Friends, Once again I am back from Ghana. I realize that I have been in Ghana every November for 30 consecutive years. At the moment, I cannot see through the panes of frosted glass on my window, very different from the moist salt-stained louvres at my Accra apartment overlooking …
DIRECTOR’S NEWSLETTER May 2, 2019 Dear Friends, My April visit to Ghana was full as always. I spent three days in Goi, a village where we have a community library and an outreach program with seven mini-libraries in neighbouring salt mining and fishing villages. Energetic lay librarians, including a few mothers who participated in our …
DIRECTOR’S NEWSLETTER May 24, 2015 Dear Friends, I returned from Ghana just a few days ago and am adjusting to the routines of Winnipeg life after leaving the frenetic pace of Accra behind. It always takes a while; silence, apart from chirping spring birds, is a stark contrast to the cacophony that permeates my life …
DIRECTOR’S NEWSLETTER December 18, 2015 Dear Friends, I returned a few days ago after five exciting weeks in Ghana, most of it focused on Osu Children’s Library Fund’s 25th anniversary celebration. It is hard to believe that we started in 1990 with only a few children and a basket of books. Now our network extends …