The Village That Reads!

Kenya Connect is building a culture of readers through our multi-layered library program in rural Kenya.

It's not enough to have books. Kenya Connect's library program incorporates various strategies to build a culture of reading. Our "Magic School Bus" and "Reading Rover" Truck roll into school yards bringing books for library check-out. Fun Book Enrichment Days, LitClubs, The Reading Challenge, Literacy Teacher professional development, and LitMoms are components of our comprehensive program.

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HundrED 2025

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Overview

HundrED has selected this innovation to

HundrED Global Collection 2025

Web presence

2018

Established

6K

Children

1

Countries

Target group

Students basic

Updated

April 2024

There is a saying in Kenya, "If you want to hide something valuable, hide it in a book." We are working to build a culture of reading through providing high quality books in English and Kiswahili so students can strengthen their fluency and comprehension. Most importantly, we want the students to expand their horizons through reading books about different topics, regions and people!

About the innovation

The Village That Reads

What we do?

Kenya Connect is committed to lifting the 18,000 students in our community out of extreme poverty through the power of education. Literacy is a key component of not only academic achievement, but lifelong success. It's notenough to just provide books. We are creating excitement, interest and a passion for reading inWamunyu.

Why we do it?

We believe in the power of education. As Nelson Mandela said, "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." We know in our community there are future astronauts, cancer doctors, political leaders, writers, and artists. We want to provide them with the tools and education to reach their dreams.

Students in rural Kenya are eager and bright, but their schools lack basic supplies and resources. The Village that Reads is just one of the many programs we provide to strengthen education for students at our 61 partner schools.

Impact & scalability

HundrED Academy Reviews

This innovation has improved the reading habits of students in remote areas. It has made reading a core value of the community as every member in the community encourages children to learn, regardless of their socio-economic situation.

I think this innovative approach can help schools in low income community, IDP camps, refugees camps, and local schools that lacks quality education materials. This approach is regions based but can be adopted in other countries.

- Academy member

Academy review results

Impact

Scalability

Exceptional

High

Moderate

Limited

Insufficient

Exceptional

High

Moderate

Limited

Insufficient

Media

Our Collection is Diverse!

The Reading Rover Rolling Through the Hills!

Teachers are Essential!

Fun Book Enrichment Days!

LitWorld®

The Reading Challenge!

Book Check-out is FUN!

The Library Card: Opening the joy, wonder, and knowledge of books!

Implementation steps

Meet with Schools

Meet with teachers and principals to discuss the importance of reading and how fluency and comprehension improves when students read more.

Build a Collection

Work to build a collection of books by purchasing them or getting donations. E-books are terrific too!

Develop a System for Check-out

Develop a system for book check-out. Initially we used paper cards and now we have a scanner and use the library world database.

Create a Library Card

Students in our program receive a library card that is attached to a lanyard. Parents pay $1.00 for the card. The cards are presented at a ceremony and our librarian explains how the program work. This ensures buy-in and responsibility.

Celebrate Reading!

In addition to have children borrowing books, we celebrate reading on World Read Aloud Day, we hold LitClubs, we offer a Reading Challenge, and we have a Radio Read Aloud program. Parents and teachers are included in our offerings too!

Evaluate

We evaluate our program through various methods including talking with teachers, parents and students. We like hearing what kinds of books they want to read, how the program is making a difference in their lives, and what else they would like to see.