Today the books were carried from our hotel to the school. We brought almost 500 books with us, ranging from science to poetry, Islamic studies to teen fiction – all books which were requested by the students on my last visit.
Once at the school, we began to unpack and teach the students how to cover the books in protective plastic. This is a very slow and time-itensive task, but such an important one to do with the students. It familiarizes them with the books, allows them to look at each title and flip through them, and most importantly, teaches them about book care.
The boys and girls worked together, showing an immense interest in stories and photos from other Arabic cultures, which is something they had asked for. We do hope that the boys will read some of the stories about girls in the Middle East, helping to broaden their minds and open up their world views a bit.
Of course, we always dedicate a portion of our donations to African books, and stories, such as the one below.
Every student who participated today was required to learn how to cover books, the idea being that they can then teach all the remaining students at the school. This helps emphasize stewardship of the library’s resources.
Comics such as Tintin are immensely popular. We had a hard time getting students to focus when they came across a Tintin book!
Students love reference books such as encyclopedias and the Guinness Book of World Records. This is due predominantly to the fact that they have short paragraph facts with photos, easing comprehension. 
As we have become much more experienced and comfortable with our library model, having rolled it out now in 5 schools, we are able to organize our setups and workshops quite precisely, knowing which lessons to emphasize.