IBBY-Yamada 2019: Rwanda

IBBY Rwanda: Establish a library at the Nyanza Palace Museum

Rwanda is a country where traditional oral literature is still alive but its reading and writing culture is not well developed. In 2017, Bakame Editions, the first publishing house for children’s literature in Rwanda, decided to set up a library in the National Environment Museum in Karongi District, in partnership with the National Museums of Rwanda. In 2019, the library was prepared to be in the former King’s palace in the Nyanza District, also in partnership with the National Museums of Rwanda. The new library, Isomere URUHONGORE, will be financed by the German Embassy, IBBY-Yamada Fund, Bakame and the Institute of National Museums. Because of many internal and external difficulties, the library will be set up, furnished and books acquired in early 2021. Several workshops and reading festivals are planned to promote a reading culture that will include storytelling sessions with authors, illustrators and cultural animators.