GEOFF GOODMAN

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An Intergenerational Examination of the Impact of
the Rural African Village Library in Uganda

• GEOFF GOODMAN
• VALEDA DENT GOODMAN
• LONG ISLAND UNIVERSITY, C.W. POST CAMPUS

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Kitengesa Community Library Overview
3
Fitting In
4
History of the Rural Library Project and Relevant
Research

• Uganda, East Africa Three impact studies (2004,
  2005, 2006) conducted at Kitengesa Community
  Library (Dent Dent Yannotta). Longitudinal
  study of intergenerational impact (Goodman
  Dent, 2009, in progress)
• Burkina Faso, West Africa Impact study at five
  rural libraries (Bereba, Dohoun, Sara, Karaba,
  and Koumbia) in 2006 2007. Surveys at Bereba
  Secondary School (Dent)
• Ghana, West Africa Impact study at Sherigu and
  Sumbrungu in 2004 2005 (Dent, Entrup)

5
Impact Study Findings from Uganda

• 2004, 2005 Study
• The focus group interviews revealed that boys
  spend more hours reading per week than girls.
  However, girls check out significantly more books
  than boys. One reason for this discrepancy may be
  that boys spend more time in the library reading
  while girls are actually taking the books home.
  Boys, in general, spend more time in the library
  during their breaks at school than the girls.
  Traditional sex roles may play into this, as boys
  are allowed to engage in activities after school
  such as football which leaves less time for
  reading at home, whereas girls return home after
  school to help with chores.
• Students with a school library read aloud to
  others in their family more often than those
  students without a library. Reading aloud is a
  key indicator of reading culture development.
• Library users spent on average 10.1 hours per
  week reading non-school related materials.
  Leisure reading is another key indicator of
  reading culture development.
• The data also revealed that Kitengesa students
  who visited the library more often had higher
  class ranks than those who did not visit the
  library as much this was a pattern that was
  repeated across all four secondary school grades.

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Impact Study Findings from Burkina Faso

• 2006, 2007 Study
• ? Survey - 112 (62 M, 50 F, ages 12 -18)
  students from Bereba Secondary School (2nd, 3rd,
  4th and 6th grades). Questions focused on impact
  of access to reading materials, library use for
  school, leisure activities, reading environment,
  reading habits, other library use
• ?100 of students reported that they read in
  their free time
• ?93 said they have reading materials (Bibles,
  books) at home
• ?Students spend close to two hours per day
  reading materials not for school
• ?76 of students read to others (family,
  friends)
• ?94 use library materials to help with their
  studies, homework, revision ?48 reported that
  a teacher used library materials in class (Bibles
  and African novels
• to teach French, newspapers for History and
  Geography)
• ?Students spend an average of 8 hours per week
  in the library
• ?Focus groups revealed that adults in the
  village would be interested in literacy classes

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Impact Study Findings from Ghana

• 2004, 2005 Study
• ? Survey - 559 students in eight schools and
  93 adult community members
• ? Questions focused on impact of access to
  reading materials, satisfaction with library,
  reading environment, reading habits, generational
  differences
• ? Findings include reading is primarily for
  academic, not leisure, purposes
• ? 61 of library users at Sherigu read daily,
  and 75 of library users at Sumbrungu read daily
• ? 42 of student respondents from Sumbrungu
  visit the library everyday
• ? 90 of student respondents use the library
  to study
• ? The collection is key. 30 of respondents at
  Sherigu and 25 of respondents at Sumbrungu
  stated that the library could improve by getting
  more interesting books. The more diversified
  the library collection, the greater the impact
  on reading habits of users

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Research Study Overview

• This study is designed to test an
  intergenerational model of the mediational
  pathways of adult library usage on the
  development of a reading culture, improved
  literacy, and childrens learning readiness
  following the establishment of a rural village
  library. Specifically, we are hypothesizing that
  adult patterns of library usage will positively
  impact the development of a reading culture, and
  support the development of enhanced literacy
  patterns among these adults, which in turn will
  predict their young childrens development of
  learning readiness skills. A mediational diagram
  will illustrate these relationships
• Adult library usage ? Adult reading
  culture/literacy ? Childrens learning readiness
  skills

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Getting Organized
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Maternal Measures
Each mother completed an hour-long,
semi-structured interview designed by the
researchers. These interviews sought to establish
the extent of the mothers reading habits,
content of reading materials, motivation for
reading, frequency of library use, and assess
certain demographic characteristics and
cumulative social-contextual risk. Interviews
were videotaped and transcribed for coding
purposes.
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Child Measures

• Children completed five tasks that collectively
  measured readiness to learn
• The Marble-in-the-Hole Game
• Pictorial Curiosity Task
• The Box Mazes
• The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-IV
• The Attachment Story-Completion Task

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Wivin
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The Pasco Syndrome
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Additional Methods

• Student Focus Groups (ages 13-17)
• Library users and non-users
• Adult Focus Groups
• Library users

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Model 1 Mediational Model
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Model 2 Moderational Model
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Model 3 Additive Model
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Descriptive Statistics
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Descriptive Statistics by Level of Library
Exposure
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Correlations Among Variables
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Correlations Among Social-Contextual Risk
Variables
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Correlations Among Learning Readiness Variables
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What we found Variation on the Additive Model
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Summary of Findings

• 1. Cumulative social-contextual risk was
  positively correlated with level of library
  exposure (r .35, plt.05), specifically, library
  user status (r .43, plt.01).
• Two explanations
• 1) Caregivers with less risk were more likely
  to be a library user.
• 2) Library usage (e.g., reading about health,
  farming) reduces risk.
• 2. Learning readiness was negatively correlated
  with level of library exposure (r -.36, plt.05),
  specifically, village status (r -.38, plt.01).
• Two explanations
• 1) The absence of a community library in
  Ggulema reduced learning readiness of its
  children.
• 2) Ggulema has a lower literacy rate than
  Kitengesa.
• 3. Caregivers self-reported quality of health
  was positively correlated with learning readiness
  (r .28, plt.05), specifically, pictorial
  curiosity (r .36, plt.01).
• Explanation
• Healthier caregivers were more responsive to
  the childs emotional and cognitive needs
  essential for the development of learning
  readiness.

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Summary of Findings (continued)

• 4. Caregivers self-reported quality of health was
  negatively correlated with level of library
  exposure (r -.40, plt.01), specifically, library
  user status (r -.48, plt.001).
• Two explanations
• 1) Library usage (e.g., reading about health)
  improved the caregivers quality of health.
• 2) Caregivers who felt better about their
  health were more likely to be library users.
• 5. Both village status and caregivers
  self-reported quality of health independently
  predicted childrens pictorial curiosity.
• Explanation
• Exposure to a community with a library and
  having a healthy caregiver improved childrens
  confidence to explore their world.

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Readings

• Aber, L. and Allen, J. (1987). Effects of
  Maltreatment on Young Childrens Socioemotional
• Development An Attachment Theory Perspective.
  Developmental Psychology, vol. 23 no. 3, pp.
• 406-414.
• Bretherton, I., Ridgeway, D., Cassidy, J.
  (1990). Assessing internal working models of the
• attachment relationship An attachment story
  completion task for 3-year-olds. In M. T.
  Greenberg, D.
• Cicchetti, E. M. Cummings (Eds.), Attachment
  in the preschool years Theory, research, and
• intervention (pp. 273-308). Chicago
  University of Chicago Press.
• Dent Goodman, V. (2008). "Historical Development
  of the Rural African Village Library in Context
• Snapshots from Burkina Faso and Ghana." New
  Library World, Vol. 109 (11/12) 512-532.
•  
• Dent, V. (2006). Observations of School Library
  Impact at Two Rural Ugandan Schools. New Library
• World 107 (9/10) 403-421.
• Dent, V. (2006). Modelling the Rural Community
  Library Characteristics of the Kitengesa Library
  in
• Rural Uganda. New Library World 107(1/2)
  16-30.

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The Research Team
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Project Acknowledgments

• Principal Investigators
• Valeda Dent Goodman
• Geoff Goodman
• Maternal Interviewing
• Valeda Dent Goodman
• Karen Gubert
• Child Interviewing
• Geoff Goodman
• Lugandan Translation
• Ssewanyana Baker
• Julius Sentume
• Subject Recruitment
• Ssewanyana Baker
• Goretti Nakyato
• Julius Sentume
• Materials Design
• Dustin Kahoud (first year student)

Maternal Interview Transcription Jennifer
Andersen (first year student) Jennifer Gorman
(advanced standing student) Jennifer Meeter
(first year student) Maria Narimanidze (first
year student) Adjoa Osei (first year
student) Jason Styka (first year student) Cheryl
Manna (future applicant) Stephanie Pogan (future
applicant) Victoria Green (work study
student) Tracy Sullivan (work study
student) Child Interview Coding Geoff
Goodman  Maternal Interview Coding and Data
Entry Jennifer Meeter (first year
student) Stephanie Pogan (future
applicant) Kitengesa Library Project Director Dr.
Kate Parry
Visit Kitengesa Community Library
www.kitengesalibrary.org
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Joseph