September is Basic Education and Literacy Month and 5870 is proud to have many local projects and Global Grant Projects both past and present in this area. In 2014, the Rotary Club of Pflugerville partnered with Libraires of Love under a Global Grant to provide five new libraries. Six other clubs soon joined the grant, headed by the Pflugerville Club President Chelsea Robertson and Past President, Matt Sparkman. Those clubs included Marble Falls Daybreak Club, Georgetown Sunrise Club, Rotary Club of Burnet, Northwest Austin Rotary, Georgetown Rotary Club. In Uganda, Mbale Rotary served as the partner club. The Global Grant was for $28,899.89.
The five new libraries would serve over 6,500 students in four primary schools and one high school. The grant included funding for library supplies to prepare the 15,000 books that were shipped, transport of books here to the ship, shipping of a 20 ft container to Uganda, customs fees, flooring and metal book shelving for the five libraries, metal book cupboards for the 48 classrooms in the four primary schools, plus expenses for holding training meetings for the new principals and librarians, as well as for precious principals and librarians who joined them.
Rotary projects always look to sustainability and Libraries of Love never leaves libraries. The Director, Trudy Marshall, lives in Uganda six months each year and checks each school to make sure students are reading daily. When she is not there, others have been trained to spend time visiting libraries, and helping the librarians as needed. Monthly reports are sent to Trudy. In 2018, the libraries funded by the grant were restocked and new books added. The libraries are doing well and being used to their fullest potential.
This year the Rotary Club of Austin is also working on a literacy Global Grant project. The submitted project is titled “Improve English literacy for grade 3 to 8 in Tumkur to Chamrajnagara corridor District 3190 India”. If approved, this project will serve over 24,000 students in over 200 schools over a 2 year period. This project will provide English as a second language programs.