Mali

Bibliothèques Sans Frontières (Libraries Without Borders) has been supporting libraries and schools in Mali since 2010.

Our Actions

Accompanying Marc Roger on His Trip

Marc Roger set out on foot from the city of Saint-Malo, following the paths that lead from the city to the capital of Bamako. He left Saint-Malo on May 31, 2009 and arrived at Bamako in June 2010. Throughout the long journey that separated the two cities, he read novels, poems, and short stories written by African, French, and francophone authors in schools, libraries, bookstores, and especially in schools associated with UNESCO.

This year-long journey allowed the public lecturer to explore France, Spain, Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal and Mali. In total, he traveled 7,109 km in the company of Babel, his donkey and traveling companion, and gave nearly 130 readings to over 7,850 spectators.

Bibliothèques Sans Frontières (Libraries Without Borders) helped Marc Roger by offering 20 suitcases to the libraries, schools, colleges and high schools that he visited in Senegal and Mali. The suitcases, each containing 91 French-language books for a variety of audiences, from children to adults, left our book collection center in March 2010 and arrived in Senegal in May and in Mali in June. They form a small mobile library that will travel to the various schools and libraries of the towns and villages concerned.

In total, our team selected and sent 1,800 French-language works to the schools and libraries visited by Marc. Many works were also purchased from African publishers, specialty bookstores, and the International Alliance of Independent Publishers.

Supporting the Kalaban Coro Neighborhood House

The neighborhood house of Kalaban Coro in Bamako opened in December, 2001. It is a joint structure managed by the residents of the neighborhood and coordinated by adolescents, anxious to offer to an audience–essentially made up of children, adolescents, and women–educational and recreational activities.

A library with more than 3,000 books and 1,500 registered readers opened in the neighborhood house. Accessible to all, it is considered a public library because it is part of the AFLAM project (Support for the Malian book chain). It opens three afternoons a week with the help of temporary student workers trained by the National Center for Public Reading and the French Cultural Center of Bamako.

The library organizes numerous book-related activities and participates in major events such as Lire en Fête, the Semaine de la Francophonie, and the Printemps des poètes. Bibliothèques Sans Frontières (Libraries Without Borders) contributed its expertise to the implementation of some of the projects of the neighborhood house and donated 300 children’s and university books to the neighborhood library house of  Kalaban Coro.

Our Work in Mali