Guardians of Knowledge – Libraries and Information in Zimbabwe

‘The library is a fountain that will water a broad range of futures’ – Chirikure Chirikure, writer, poet and actor.

Libraries in Zimbabwe, as anywhere in the world, play a vital role in making books and information available, in creating the reading habit, inspiring the imagination and opening up opportunities. They are a store of knowledge, and conserve wisdom and memory as a valuable resource for the future.

Guardians of Knowledge is organised by the Britain Zimbabwe Society in partnership with the Stevenage Kadoma Link Association, as part of an ongoing series of open-to-all online events. It will hear from Zimbabweans with a wealth of experience in setting up libraries to serve their local communities, and from organisations and initiatives in the UK working in support of Zimbabwean library partners.

PROGRAMME

Times in GMT

12.00-12.10 Welcome and introductions from the Britain Zimbabwe Society (BZS) and the Stevenage Kadoma Link Association (SKLA)

12.10-13.10 Panel One: Libraries as Information Givers

Questions for the Panel:

· How do you get books to people?

· How do people get to books?

· Are libraries changing?

Speakers: Michael Moyo, Librarian, Edward Ndlovu Memorial Trust, Gwanda

Chirikure Chirikure, founder of the Nemashakwe Community Library, Gutu District

Gaudencia Gore, Librarian, Rimuka Library, Kadoma

Facilitator: Rose Hamilton, Stevenage Kadoma Link Association

13.10-13.15 Break

13.15-14.00 Panel Two: The Business of Books

Questions for the Panel:

· Is the book industry still alive?

· How do writers reach their readers?

Speakers:

Roger Stringer, academic & non-fiction editor, book designer, librarian, founder member African Publishers Network

Rita Budi, Senior Librarian, Bulawayo Public Library

Theresah Mandeya, Teacher/Librarian, Rimuka-3, Kadoma

Judith Henderson, Book Aid International

Facilitator: Margaret Ling, BZS

14.00-14.45 Panel Three: Keepers of Memory

Questions for the Panel:

· How important is it to keep our memories?

· What is the role of schools and libraries?

Speakers: Annabel Valentine, Archivist, Oxford Brookes University Library

Joyce Jenje Makwenda, founder of the Joyce Jenje Makwenda Collection Archive (JJMCA)

Kennedy Paridzira, Teacher, Jameson High School, Kadoma

Facilitator: Pat Brickhill, writer, editor, bookseller

14.45-15.00 Summing up, thanks and close

ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS

(listed in programme order)

MICHAEL MOYO

Michael Moyo is a development practitioner and PhD candidate, currently serving as Executive Director of the Edward Ndlovu Memorial Trust. In this role, I provide strategic leadership in advancing literacy development, fostering a strong reading culture, and driving community empowerment across Matabeleland South. I hold a Master’s in Business Administration with a strategic focus, a BSc Honours degree in Development Studies, a Diploma in Secondary Education, and a Certificate in Project Planning and Management. With a solid background in leadership, strategic management, and resource mobilization, I have spearheaded initiatives that expand access to education, strengthen library services, and promote sustainable community development. A firm believer in the power of information as a catalyst for development, I view literacy as a critical pathway out of poverty. "When vulnerable populations are provided with relevant information, they are empowered to improve their circumstances and work towards overcoming their challenges."

CHIRIKURE CHIRIKURE

Born in 1962, the poet and performer Chirikure Chirikure is a graduate of the University of Zimbabwe. He is an honorary fellow of the University of Iowa (USA), and an International Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (UK). He worked as an editor at a major publishing house in Harare, and as a programme officer for an international development organisation. He is currently the director of LitFest Harare, an international literature festival. Chirikure has published four collections of his poetry and has contributed poems and articles in numerous publications. He has also written children’s books and educational materials. He performs his poetry solo and also with musical accompaniment. With the support of the International Publishers Association (IPA) and the African Publishing Innovation Fund (APIF), Chirikure set up the Nemashakwe Community Library in 2021, in the rural Gutu District of Zimbabwe.

GAUDENCIA GOREDEMA

Gaudencia Goredema is a Librarian at Rimuka Public Library under Kadoma City Council, where she has served since 2016. She holds a degree in Records and Archives Management and a Special Honours degree in Monitoring and Evaluation. With over 20 years in public service, Gaudencia is passionate about community empowerment, information access, and literacy development.

ROSE HAMILTON

I am the Secretary of the Stevenage Kadoma Link Association, a twin town group connecting the two towns, and have been a member for 30 years or so. My connection to Zimbabwe predates this to the 1970’s to friendships with emigres from the future Zimbabwe living and organising in London. In the 1990’s staff from the Stevenage Library service visited Kadoma. This resulted in projects to support building work and book supplies to the Rimuka Library. Personally I rely on books, history, travelogues, official reports, and novels to help widen my understanding of how people find a way to live within and act upon the world they find. How did we get to here? Where from? And Why? Books help with the answers.

ROGER STRINGER

Roger Stringer began his career as a librarian, working in public libraries in the UK and Zambia and as a college librarian in Zimbabwe. He then moved into publishing, as Publications Officer at the University of Zimbabwe. He has been involved in many aspects of the book chain in Zimbabwe, having served on the executive committees of the Zimbabwe Library Association and the Zimbabwe Book Publishers Association. He was a Trustee of the Zimbabwe International Book Fair for eight years, was the first Chairman of the Zimbabwe Book Development Council, and is a Founder Member of the African Publishers Network (APNET). He now provides editorial and desktop-publishing services through his company, TextPertise.

RITA BUDI

Rita Budi is the Chief Librarian at the Bulawayo Public Library and a passionate advocate for literacy, lifelong learning, and community engagement through reading. Her love for books and learning first took root at Usher Girls High School. She graduated from the National University of Science and Technology (NUST), and gained a further degree in Monitoring and Evaluation. This combination of expertise has enabled her to design and implement meaningful and measurable library programmes, such as the ‘Catch Them Young’ literacy campaign to cultivate a reading culture from an early age. Her focus is not just on encouraging reading, but on making it enjoyable and accessible to all through storytelling, reading competitions, school outreach activities, and interactive workshops. Under her leadership, the Bulawayo Public Library has evolved into a community space where ideas are shared, creativity is nurtured, and knowledge is continuously explored. She believes that books are windows into different worlds, tools for critical thinking, and powerful vehicles for personal and societal growth.

THERESAH T. MANDEYA

I am a full-time English Teacher at Waverly High School in Mashonaland West, Zimbabwe. I enjoy the role of Librarian in our school library as there is no librarian. I have devised a workable timetable whereby learners borrow library books every Friday and return them after a week. I enjoy supporting my learners and adjusting to their various needs and expectations. I take pride in the fact that so far I have managed to foster a love of reading in learners, promoting information literacy and collaborating with my colleagues in supporting student success. The only stumbling block in 100% literacy success is the shortage of modern books to motivate all the learners to grab a book. E-books are also quite exorbitant to access as there are high subscriptions to be paid. Therefore, they rely on the few hard copies available at our library. Computers, laptops, tablets and cellphones would go a long way in making an E-Library a success at my school!

JUDITH HENDERSON

I am a Senior Project Manager with Book Aid International, with a responsibility for a portfolio of projects that support our partners to promote regular reading in public libraries, community libraries and schools across Africa. I am a professional librarian and cut my teeth many years ago in Higher Education and have worked in many libraries in the UK, Asia, Africa and Australia. My work with Book Aid International has taken me all over Africa

MARGARET LING

Margaret is the treasurer and membership secretary of the Britain Zimbabwe Society (BZS). Her professional career has been in research and writing, publishing, marketing and finance management. She worked for the research department of the International Defence and Aid Fund for Southern Africa; for Zed Books, publishing on globalisation, politics, environment and human rights issues; and for the Disasters Emergency Committee. From 1992 to 2001, she was the international agent for the Zimbabwe International Book Fair, bringing exhibitors and trade visitors to the ZIBF from the UK and Europe, North American and the Caribbean. She is an active volunteer with a community-owned bookshop. She believes that sharing information and knowledge, and working together, can help to empower local communities, and bring about change.

ANNABEL VALENTINE

Annabel Valentine has been the Archivist and Special Collections Manager at Oxford Brookes University since 2020. Having worked in higher education archives for over 15 years, she is passionate about the power of archives to contribute to individuals' understanding of themselves and the world around them. She is currently cataloguing the archive material from the Publishing in Africa collection at Oxford Brookes, much of which originated from SABDET (the Southern African Book Development Education Trust) and includes a significant amount of material on the Zimbabwe International Book Fair. She is interested in building links with researchers and archives in southern Africa. Find out more about the collections at Oxford Brookes and contact Annabel via the webpage: www.brookes.ac.uk/library/collections/special-collections/

JOYCE JENJE MAKWENDA

Joyce is an award-winning producer, journalist, artist and ethnomusicologist, historian, archivist, author and lecturer. She has 40 years of research experience covering urban culture, music, politics, education, religion, media, fashion, sex and sexuality. Her published books include Zimbabwe Township Music (2005), Women Parliamentarians and Politicians in Zimbabwe (2013), and, most recently, Demystifying Taboos …. And Sex – The Mother of All Humanity. Joyce has worked with both local and international radio to tell the story of Zimbabwe music. She has produced a number of film and television documentaries, including Zimbabwe Township Music 1930’s-1960’s (1992). She has lectured and taught at the Zimbabwe College of Music, Witwatersrand University and the Zimbabwe Film and Television School of Southern Africa (ZIFTESSA). Joyce has established a large private social history archive in her home in Harare, comprising audio and video interviews on music, press cuttings, photos, LPs and music artefacts.

KENNEDY PARIDZIRA

Kennedy is a Computer Science teacher at Jameson High School in Kadoma with a passion to see learners acquire information for their educational journey and beyond. Learners access the library during weekdays. During weekends ordinary books can be borrowed and returned after a week. Equipping learners and seeing them achieve globally is a fulfilling journey as most learners use library books as a stepping stone. The few reserved books which can only be used inside libraries prove to be valuable and scarce at the same time. Learners have to make best use of their limited time. The cost of most books on the syllabus has gone up, making it difficult for learners to access newer editions. E-books are expensive in terms of both accessibility and subscriptions. Both data and infrastructure like computers, laptops, tablets, phablets and cellphones are expensive and beyond the reach of many in Zimbabwe. This makes hard copies enviable and practical to use.

PAT BRICKHILL

Pat has had a lifelong association with publishing, books, reading and libraries. This includes working in a suburban library, working on several magazines, at the Zimbabwe International Book Fair and at Grassroots Books, Zimbabwe's first progressive book shop which became the iconic Book Café. She has written several short stories published in Zimbabwe, worked with the Budding Writers Association of Zimbabwe and Zimbabwe Women Writers, and edited several memoirs. She recognises that libraries do not only promote literacy, but provide access to information and literature, encourage lifelong learning, are a place to study, a community hub, and are much more than a place to borrow books.

For further information contact <margaret.ling@geo2.poptel.org.uk>

Margaret Ling, Membership Secretary/Treasurer, Britain Zimbabwe Society