Oxgangs welcomed some very special guests on the 30th of August, when visitors from Zambia came to explore the library.  Theresa Chilufya, the deputy head of Chipembi Girls’ School, and her colleague Hegger Mudenda travelled with students Genevieve Hoare and Exillia Kabbudula, and enjoyed a tour of Oxgangs library, where they were all given membership cards and shown how to use the services available on Your Library.  Students at Chipembi school are not as lucky with regards to books and resources  as we are here in Edinburgh, so our visitors considered Oxgangs to be something of an “Aladdin’s Cave”!
“We don’t have any books to read for pleasure in our own library, some of them date back to 1926 when the school first opened!” said Theresa.  “I’ll definitely use our library card – the teachers will be able to use ‘Your Library’ websites for their lessons!”
Genevieve, who is hoping to study medicine, was delighted with the range of kids’ books: “The picture books for children are amazing, we don’t have books like this back in Zambia.”
Carol Marr, of Oxgangs library, sincerely hopes to maintain contact with our new far-flung members, perhaps establishing a link between the girls at Chipembi and the teenage girls’ group at Oxgangs.  She believes that it is a great step towards international reader development.

Many thanks to Myra Fell for forging this new link between Edinburgh City Libraries and Chipembi School, and all the very best to our new friends!  Enjoy Your Library!