Chronicle Editor
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
SOUTH Mining Community Library in Lwendulu, Hwange is the only library that is now servicing the reading masses in the coal mining town following the closure of previously operational libraries over the years.
The closure of the libraries was on the back of the assumption that their functionality has been overtaken by events following the coming in of the digital era with internet-based research.
However, the coke mining company rewrote history by constructing a state-of-the-art library that is now going to service the Hwange community offering both physical books and online research facilities.
First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa commissioned the library on Thursday applauding South Mining Zimbabwe for the kind gesture and offering the community a chance to access information and not being left behind.
A Sunday News crew caught up with Ms Nyasha Trina Makumbe the librarian of the US$600 000 facility who was excited to share how the new facility was going to change lives.
“We have more than 200 schools that we serve here in Hwange and we cover from early childhood development, primary and high school, tertiary, and up to professional level, we cover the whole community. In fact, anyone who may want to access information, and the library is free,” she said.
Ms Makumbe shared what the facility was made up of and how it functions.
“We have two main sections in the library where there are physical books and a computer laboratory with a professional laboratory assistant. We have free unlimited WiFi for those who wish to access the facility for research purposes. This is going to help especially our pupils with the Education 5.0 approach, they can do research and even their Continuous Learning Assessment Areas (CALA) projects using the computer lab or the library side,” she said.
South Mining Zimbabwe carried out a survey to have an appreciation of the community’s perception of the library.
“We are overwhelmed, parents are so excited and had been eagerly waiting for us to open, and now that we have finally opened, we can now start serving them. What we are trying to do is to keep learners away from the streets. When we are covering ECD we are trying to catch them young so that we cultivate a culture of reading in them. We will be carrying out an orientation programme so that we train our users even those that are not computer literate, we will be training them on how to use our machines and how to search the internet for what they want,” said Ms Makumbe.
The librarian said the users would also have access to e-books and e-journals while they have also subscribed to some online journals to help the community access information online without any hustles.
The librarian also said well-wishers who wish to add to their collection that they already have were welcome to assist with resources. To add to the computer laboratory, the library has a smart television that will assist learners to watch educational videos as a class.
“All they do is register with us to book a slot where they come and watch educational videos, be it a literature class or a video on a science project, they can come and use the facility,” said Ms Makumbe.
Traditional libraries have shelves with volumes of literature only but Ms Makumbe explained the highly advanced library setup at South Mining Community Library.
“We are trying to bridge the gap, some of the families in our community are child-headed, and some are being cared for by aged grandparents who are not technology savvy so these children grow up without this knowledge of gadgets and computers. These children also fail to even access gadgets that can connect to the internet because no one has those in their various set-ups so we want to bridge that gap so that they access new technology,” she said.
She said children from Hwange need to experience the new reality of technology and the age of the internet and embrace it.
She, however, lamented that the community had for a long time been starved of libraries as one that used to function closed down years ago leaving them with no library at all.
Books available at the library will be used only on the premises as a system of allowing books in and out of the facility is likely to see books being lost and damaged and following up can be a challenge.
Ms Makumbe said the library had rules and regulations and users were expected not to steal or vandalise books and available resources.
“We need to preserve this facility for generations to come so we urge them to guard it jealously and not vandalise anything. They must appreciate it and be responsible for it without being monitored, having a sense of ownership and pride in it,” she said.
South Mining Community Library can host 120 students at a time with the capacity to accommodate an overflow as there is a lot of space that can be used. The computer laboratory has 24 state-of-the-art computers with a shipment of more expected soon and a capacity of 48.
Community members from Lwendulu said the facility was a blessing.
“I would like to thank the Second Republic led by President Mnangagwa and also the First Lady Dr Mnangagwa because now our children know they have a safe place where they can go and research and learn, as an adult can go and research just as the First Lady told us, that we are allowed to use the library,” said one parent.
The community also said access to the facility would dissuade children off drugs and harmful substances as they would spend time doing school work at the library.
Ms Makumbe is a holder of a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Library and Information Science from the University of Forte Hare in South Africa and an accounting qualification.
The mining company also constructed a two-bedroomed house for the librarian which is nestled behind the library. -@NyembeziMu
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