The Meheba Friendly Libraries are a network of five libraries and reading rooms throughout the Meheba Settlement. All together, the libraries house over 20,000 titles, making the Meheba Friendly Library system the largest in any refugee camp in the world. Hailed by the UN refugee agency as “a miracle in the middle of the bush,” the libraries are used by students and non-students alike.
In isolated and resource-poor areas like Meheba, educational resources like libraries are often considered beyond the scope of NGOs and government agencies. Although classrooms in schools are crammed full with students, rarely will students have access to the books and materials they need to study and achieve in school. Furthermore, without common meeting spaces dedicated to reading and learning, refugee communities often lack the capacity to support groups of learners.
The Meheba Friendly Libraries are open to people of all ages and nationalities living in Meheba. Because libraries are located in five of the eight settlement zones, they are highly accessible to refugees throughout Meheba. The majority of people who visit the library are youth and students, but a significant number of adults age 40 and older also frequent the libraries.
• Holding open library hours six days every week
• Making more than 20,000 titles available to the Meheba community
• Conducting outreach and literacy activities to raise awareness about libraries and increase membership
• To add 200 new library members every year
• To increase circulation and use of library materials by 20% every year
• To increase literacy in Meheba by 5% every year
*Because of budget constraints, FORGE has temporarily scaled back the scope of many of its projects. The project descriptions and budgets seen here describe the project's typical operations, and might therefor not reflect the current situation on the ground. Once sufficient funding is secured for each project, its operations will be expanded back to those reflected in this description and budget.