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IFLA:

Section on Reading and Section of School Libraries and Resource Centres

Literacy for Life: Promoting the Practice of Literacy, Information Literacy and Lifelong Learning

A One-day Pre-Conference Invitational Meeting at Oslo University College in Oslo, Norway, August 12, 2005

PAPERS FOR PRESENTATION AT THE PRECONFERENCE

Recovering from the Tsunami through Reading: The Sri Lankan Experience
Upali Amarasari, Director General, National Library of Sri Lanka

A massive tsunami tidal wave was unleashed as a result of an earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale that occurred near the sea in Indonesia on 26 December 2004. The 700 km per hour, 30-meter high wall of water, caused huge destruction to Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, The Maldives and Bangladesh. The loss to life, property and infrastructure facilities are enormous including a massive 300,000 deaths.

IMPACT OF TSUNAMI ON SRI LANKA

Sri Lanka lost 40,000 people and 80,000 houses and approximately 1,000,000 out of a total population of 20 million became refugees overnight. Basic infrastructure and building facilities amounting to 182 schools, 72 hospitals, 1,615 kilometres of road and 160 kilometres of rail track along with telecommunication facilities and water supply systems were severely affected. Economic activities of the coastal region primarily comprising of tourism, fisheries, agriculture and minor industries were brought to a standstill.

Impact on the Library Sector

A substantial number of school and public libraries in the coastal area have been either destroyed or damaged by the tidal waves. Fortunately it being a Sunday and a Buddhist religious holiday, schools and public libraries were closed on that fateful day and this saved the lives of a large number of school children, teachers, library users and library staff. Libraries located closer to the ocean were wiped out from the face of the earth by the waves and others suffered damages according to the distance from the sea. The penetration of the waves depended on the direction of the waves and the geography of the area. Library facilities available in the 182 affected schools ranged from fully-fledged school libraries to a few book cupboards. Of the 62 public libraries that were affected, 23 were completely destroyed. A number of libraries attached to religious institutions, government departments and community centres too were destroyed.

Psychological Trauma of Affected Persons

It is extremely unfortunate that of the 40,000 who are dead or presumed missing, one third are children. While 1,070 children lost both parents and became orphans within a matter of moments, a further 3,700 lost either their mother or father. Also the percentage of dead women is much higher than their male counterparts. Being a Sunday and a Buddhist religious holiday all in most instances the entire family was together when the disaster struck, and hence, most of the family members perished in front of others, leaving the living with scarred for life. I believe that all of you gathered here today would have witnessed on television how people, specially a group of young girls were taken away by the waves at the bus station of the southern city of Galle and their failed, but heart braking struggle to save their lives. This was one of the real scenes of the tragedy that was played over and over again by major television channels. Being a holiday many people were tragically caught by the waves while on pleasure trips to wildlife parks and holiday resorts as well as places of religious worship, all located by the sea. A lady architect who is currently helping us in designing library buildings lost her teenage daughter while holidaying at a seaside resort. In actual fact both of her children were missing but after 20 hours they managed to locate the son who saved is life by clinging onto a fallen tree trunk in a lagoon nearby. In the southern seaside city of Hambantota Sunday is the market day over 5,000 persons who were housewives, children, vegetable sellers and other small-scale vendors perished there alone. As per the information received by the NLDSB from the librarian the entire membership of the children’s library perished along with the majority of members of the library advisory committee.

TWO Catastrophes

As you can understand engaging in literacy or reading promotional activities during a catastrophic situation is an immense challenge. I do not need to remind you that carrying out reading promotional activities even under normal circumstances is not an easy task. We are faced with a much worse position in Sri Lanka as we need to deal with two equally bad catastrophic situations. On one hand for over two decades we are entangled with a separatist war with part of the north and east not under the control of the elected government of the day. Although a ceasefire agreement has been in operation during the last three years an uneasy situation prevails in the country. Not only has this war taken over 65,000 lives, a large number of people have been displaced and live in relief camps.

Therefore, you will undoubtedly agree that Sri Lanka is in a unique situation where we cope with two major catastrophes and trying to conduct reading promotional programmes in the midst of them. Although I will be concentrating on reading activities in the areas affected by the tsunami, I believe that the political situation on the ground has an immense impact on our activities.

READING PROGRAMMES: BACKGROUND

Sri Lanka introduced free education in early 1940s and as a result the country’s literacy rate has been a constant 95%+ during the last few decades. Actually Sri Lanka has been hailed as a model developing country due to its social indicators of life expectancy and literacy. The population with high literacy rate provides necessary background for literacy and reading promotion programmes, as functional literacy rate is much lower than the literacy rate. Accordingly a number of national agencies carry out reading promotion programmes at different levels for different social groups. The National Book Development Council, National Library Services Board and Ministry of Education take a leading role in these activities. On the initiative of the NLDSB, the government in 2004 declared the month of October as the National Reading Month (NRM). This is considered a significant step forward in promoting reading and literacy throughout Sri Lanka. The first National Reading Month was celebrated on a grand scale last October with the country’s Prime Minister officially declaring open the programme of activities. School children, teachers, librarians and officials of local government, public sector institutions and certain sections of the private sector enthusiastically participated in reading promotional activities during the NRM. According to available statistics 689 major reading promotional activities were carried out during the NRM

READING PROMOTIONAL ACTIBITIES

Rebuilding and Repairing Libraries

Rebuilding and repairing of affected libraries have become the principal challenge in the post-tsunami library/reading campaign. In the absence of the requisite infrastructure facilities and an adequate local base station it is difficult to sustain a reading programme in the long run. To date the government has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with a number of local and overseas partners to build 163 of the affected schools where children will be provided with a modern school complex inclusive of a large library, multi-media unit and computer-learning centre. The public library re-building programme lags behind in comparison to the progress made in the school library sector. However, some of the local authorities have managed to secure assistance from different organisations for the repair and re-building work. The NLDSB is constantly pressuring the government to release funds required for this purpose.

New Library Architectural Designs

When constructing new libraries, the NLDSB is eager to develop new library building designs to suit modern trends and climatic conditions of the maritime areas. Such buildings should be simple, attractive, economical and functional. Already a special task force on the subject as well as the NLDSB with help from local architects are engaged in this activity. UNESCO has also promised to provide the services of an architect specialising in library buildings to help in this work.

Supply of Library Furniture

There is a great demand for library furniture and equipment from affected libraries. Most of the furniture was damaged due to the velocity of the waves or washed away into the sea. In addition instances have been reported of refugees using this furniture as firewood in the period immediately following the disaster. To date the NLDSB has managed to provide the basic furniture requirement of reading tables, chairs, book racks and cupboards to a considerable number of libraries and also a large order has been placed for library furniture.

Provision of Reading Material

Provision of reading material for affected schools, libraries and relief camps received high priority with the National Library Services Board, Book Publishers Association, individual publishers and authors, school children, a leading local television station (Rupavahini), private sector organisations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), UNICEF and a number of other international organisations contributing to this effort.

Formation of a Book Selection Taskforce

A special taskforce for book selection for tsunami-affected areas has been formed at the NLDSB. Since the country uses both Sinhala and Tamil as the two major languages and material in the English language is also in demand, the taskforce is required to select reading material in all three languages. Here mention must be made of the large number of book offers received from overseas. Some of these offers had to be rejected on the ground of the material being unsuitable for affected libraries. Since most of the affected libraries are school and small public libraries books of an advanced academic nature or on specialised fields are not in demand. There have also been instances of some of the material offered being outdated and not relevant in the current context. The limited space available in these small libraries does not warrant wasting space for unnecessary or rarely used material.

Distribution of Book Boxes

The NLDSB provides book boxes to some relief camps and transitional housing schemes. As these temporary shelters are not able to allocate a separate place to store reading material, book boxes are seen as the ideal solution. The co-ordinator of the camp or some suitable person selected from among the refugees act as the librarian and the NLDSB provides basic and simple instruction leaflets explaining how to issue the material.

Role of Neighbouring Libraries

The public libraries in the area, which were not severely affected by the tsunami, depending on the resources available, extend services to relief camps. The NLDSB provides library material to such libraries to facilitate extending services to affected libraries. Schools that were not affected were required to accommodate children of affected schools close by. Thereby necessitating conduct of double sessions. Existing school libraries are serving the new comers and are provided with additional resources from the NLDSB and the Ministry of Education. Some librarians are somewhat uneasy to provide books to newcomers to the area and are concerned about security of the material. To solve the problem the NLDSB has advised the maintenance of a separate collection to serve refugee camps and these materials do not constitute a part of the library collection and hence, the loss of some material may not create a problem for the librarian.

Book Development Project

Since 1984 the NLDSB implements a special Book Development Project with a view to assisting authors, publishers and the book industry in the country. Under this project the NLDSB selects quality manuscripts and authors are provided with financial assistance to publish these manuscripts following high quality printing and publishing standards. To date over 2,000 titles have been published through the project and it has helped to change the face of the publishing industry. The project has helped to free authors from the grip of publishers and create a new class of publishers called author publishers. Indirectly this has helped the library sector as well by providing quality books at a reasonable price. Hailed as one of the most successful publication assistance projects in the developing world, it has diversified its activities by helping to reprint quality old books and editing the country’s old classical literature.

Publishing Books aimed at Affected Children

The latest project of this renowned programme is the children’s books project aiming tsunami-affected children. The objective of the project is to produce 15 quality children’s books (seven in Sinhala, five in Tamil and three in English), which will give orphaned or affected children hope, courage, self-confidence and other positive attitudes to overcome the psychological trauma. So far we have received nearly 100 manuscripts for selection and plans are underway to launch this new set of books during the National Reading Month in October. An NGO involved in the reconstruction activities recently published a children’s book titled ‘Searching for Punchi’ with similar objectives.

Special Video Documentary on the Surrounding Ocean

The tsunami dramatically changed the attitude of children towards the sea. Up until the tragedy, children loved the sea and had most pleasant thoughts about the blue water, beautiful fish, dancing waves, golden beaches, etc. After the tsunami struck children in general developed an extremely negative attitude towards it and in certain instances there is a fear among them even to look at the sea. The NLDSB is planning on producing a documentary on the ocean surrounding the country depicting the beauty of the sea. It will be an educational documentary similar to the programmes aired on the Discovery Channel but concentrating on our own shore. Different types of fish including ornamental fish, coral reefs, migrating whales, fishing activities, sand dunes, waves and tides will be discussed through graphic illustrations, photographs and pictures. It will also discuss about the numerous sunken ships found in the sea surrounding the country, which are considered as archaeological treasures. Through this documentary we will endeavour to change the negative attitude towards the ocean and restore the old love and affection towards it.

Children’s Paintings

The Ministry of Cultural Affairs & National Heritage with some assistance from the NLDSB conducted an art/painting project among affected children where they were requested to draw a painting on a subject of their choice. About 90% of the children selected a theme related to the tsunami disaster. Some of these paintings were of a high standard and were exhibited at regional and national level. This was one of the initial activities of the children and these paintings amply demonstrate the deep psychological impact of the tragedy on young minds.

Story Telling Sessions

This is a popular programme conducted for small children in relief camps, orphanages, schools and libraries. Teachers, librarians, authors, adults and sometimes even the village priest join in the programme relating religious stories. There have even been instances of volunteers from overseas countries conducting these programmes. For this purpose the NLDSB and a number of other organisations provided children’s books to camps and libraries.

ICT Facilities

The Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA), which is the ICT arm of the government spearheads the E-Sri Lanka project. Tele centres or ‘Nanasala’ (as they are referred to in the vernacular language) is established in rural areas with the objective of providing Internet and other IT facilities to the rural areas. These centres comprise of a few computers with Internet connections, printer, scanner or photocopier and a fax machine. After the tsunami these facilities have been extended to a number of relief camps and transitional housing schemes by the ICT. In some camps computers thus provided have been used for day-to-day management activities of the camps as well as to store important data and statistics of the inhabitants and the movement of material received.

Setting Up New Libraries

Tsunami victims initiated a number of new libraries and reading campaigns as well. A staff member of the University of Ruhuna situated in the southern province, who lost his daughter to the tragedy, has started a home library in the child’s room in her memory. The grief stricken parents and the brother of the dead child keep the library open to the village children seven days a week from early morning till they go to sleep at night. Some parents who lost their children and adult children who lost their parents or loved ones have also donated their personal collections to libraries to invoke blessings on the deceased and these meritorious acts have helped libraries to improve the collections.

Assisting Children prepare for Schooling and Public Examinations

While children lost their school textbooks and other study material the teachers lost their teacher guidebooks and teaching material making it difficult to commence systematic schoolwork. UNICEF has assisted to reprint the textbooks and distribute among the children while the National Institute of Education provided replacement teacher guides and other teaching material while the NLDSB provided these materials to public libraries to ease the situation further.

2005 National Reading Month Campaign

Special attention will be paid to the tsunami affected areas during the October National Reading Month campaign. The theme for this year is "Reading for National Development". Announcements have already been made for national and school level competitions for posters, photographs and essays on the theme. A plan is underway to re-draw public attention towards tsunami affected libraries during the campaign, analyse the existing situation and provide further assistance as required.

CHALLENGES

Lack of Basic Facilities

Lack of basic facilities at the relief camps at the initial stage made starting reading campaigns a difficult and almost impossible task. Immediately after the tragedy displaced people were housed in tents, schools and other temporary shelters and were generally cramped devoid of adequate basic facilities. Gradually during the next phase these people have been supplied with transitional houses with better facilities. Weeping and shocked people, struggling relief agencies and overworked government officials were a common sight at the initial stage and it is understandable that in such a situation reading promotion and similar activities become somewhat irrelevant.

Traumatised Librarians

Librarians attached to affected libraries who are expected to spearhead the reading campaign too are in a difficult situation. Not only have they lost library buildings, collections, furniture and equipment but some of the library users as well. In the southern city of Galle, the branch library at a location called Magalle, was destroyed by the tsunami, which also killed half of the children of a children’s home located in close proximity. Some librarians lost their family members and friends. All these create a deep psychological impact on them. Some of them had to engage in cleaning books damaged by seawater and this became a health hazard. School and local authorities were not in a position to help them as they were facing other numerous pressing problems. This made a lot of librarians frustrated and caused much mental stress that some even wanted to be transferred out of the area. Although gradually things have become normal this hampered reading activities to a certain extent.

Low Priority for Library Services

The government, international organisations and NGOs who have received aid for rebuilding and other assistance do not consider restoring the library network a priority. When a large number of people are homeless and major infrastructure facilities are to be restored, it is difficult to find fault with this negative attitude towards libraries. On the other hand some NGOs after attending to certain identified activities or when problems are encountered in implementation of some projects give up and take the money back without channelling it to some other productive areas or uses. After much persuasion NLDSB was successful in obtaining funds for libraries from some NGOs but the general lack of interest towards libraries is still prevalent.

Political Dramas

Some leaders of local authorities who visited the NLDSB have complained that they do not get their fair share of aid earmarked for tsunami victims, as they do not belong to the governing party. Even though such a claim is difficult to verify it could well be true in some instances and at the same time they could be using this as a tactic to get a better deal from the aid organisation. Sometimes politicians want to be in the centre stage of all activities. A case in point is that when the NLDSB commenced distribution of library furniture for affected libraries as an emergency measure, a staff member of the a minister in charge of the subject alleged that the minister was not getting any publicity from this work. As a result the NLDSB had to postpone the next distribution until a convenient date for the minister could be found.

Lack of Organisation and Resources

Compared with well-organised reading promotional campaigns, our effort is understandably full of shortcomings. In actual fact this is not a reading campaign in the true sense of the word, but is an effort to provide some basic reading material to victims of one of the world’s most severe natural disasters. The catastrophe was so huge that not only victims, but also helpers too at times feel as if they are victims. The affected area extends from the western to the northern coast and includes areas that are inaccessible due to the prevailing internal conflict and a natural habitat consisting of lagoons and forests. The majority of tsunami-hit areas have already been identified as poverty stricken areas that have a very low standard of living. For example when children in some of these areas were provided with shoes by relief organisations some of them did not even know how to tie the shoelaces. The literacy rate in these areas is much lower than the national average. To introduce reading to this social group a well co-ordinated and carefully planned long-term programme, which has adequate resources, is required. At this point in time we do not possess adequate resources and other facilities for such a programme since the major part of the resources received were channelled to provide immediate relief programmes and to improve infrastructure facilities. Very little has been received or set aside for our professional activities and we are hopeful that this situation will change for the better in the not too distant future.

Last Updated 1 August 2005 (LAC)