"This is something the library has had to deal with ever since the beginning," says KidsLibs founder Anne Moore, who remembers how Somali community leaders came to the library to make sure that copies of the Koran were being handled properly and respectfully. Gradually, the community has come to accept the library, and the library has played an ever-greater role in helping bring together different groups.

"It's just in the last year or so that Somali girls have started to use the library. That's wonderful progress," notes Moore.

KidsLibs had a lot of help from the British Army in creating the library. They paid for re-wiring and damp-proofing of the library rooms, built all the shelves for our books, and provided the carpet. While they were working, the Army staff also trained Eastleigh youth in carpentry and other skills.
When the library building was ready we added the library book stock. This was donated by the British Royal Air force.

Four members of MYSA staff were trained in library classification, colour coding, A- Z, and cataloging. The staff later received training in using English-language books for storytelling in communities where English is a second language.

The library faces many challenges. Like most of our centers it is housed in a rented building. Unfortunately the building is poorly maintained, yet the rent increases on a regular basis.

We have had raw sewerage flowing through the building twice in two years. The building is damp, has very little natural lighting, and no flow of air to mitigate the damp conditions. It's our dream to build our own library, designed to meet the needs of our population, but costs within this densely populated urban area are high. Just to purchase a building plot would come to about 4 million Kenya shillings (about $50,000 US).

Another challenge is finding the right stock: we need more books in Arabic for our Somali members!

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