Celebrating Reading at Kairi Library

[Photo caption: inABLE Founder Irene Mbari-Kirika congratulates all the students who participated in the December Reading Contest]

Over 150 children took part in a reading drive organized by ORS librarian, Naomi Macharia. Participating students borrowed books and wrote short essay summarizing what they learned. The top readers in three age groups were announced at a fun celebration event sponsored by inABLE on December 21st.

On the day of the reading-drive celebration, Naomi arrived at the library at 8am. She was greeted by 40 students eagerly awaiting the 9 am event. inABLE founder Irene Mbari-Kirika along with Executive Committee members Kirika Mugo and Chris Macharia traveled from the USA to personally recognize all the students who participated in the December Reading Contest. There were also many supporters in the crowd, including library committee, teachers and inABLE Kenya team representatives.

Appropriately, inABLE’s librarian Naomi Macharia gave the welcome speech. She explained that this reading drive exceeded expectations. On the very first reading-drive day 105 students arrived, when she thought maybe 40 might. And the high attendance numbers were steady for the entire 30 days. She recalled: "I had to come up with creative ways to motivate the students to keep them excited throughout the entire reading contest".

The librarian asked students about what they read, assisted them in selecting books, and also read to young kindergarten and first grade students. She was always amazed to find students waited patiently until she opened the Kairi ORS library each day.

During the reading celebration event, students performed poetry, songs and dance. Every student also received a small participation gift. In addition, the top 10 students were rewarded with additional gifts to support their education. Everyone enjoyed refreshments, balloons and stickers. The Reading Drive celebration was a huge success, with calls for an annual event. To make this happen, everyone cheered…“Read, Read, Read!

To say the least, the USA inABLE team were overjoyed by the response to this motivational reading program and departed Kairi village thinking – "how we can further develop the Our Reading Spaces program".