Camel Libraries - Girls Reading to Succeed

The first Camel Library was founded in 2020 during the pandemic; it was named Roshan, and located in Mand, Kech, Balochistan. This was followed by six more camel libraries which were launched in 2021 in different areas of Balochistan and Sindh, namely, Aman (Mithipur Sindh), Raunaq (Gwadar to Khuzdar, Balochistan), Chirag (Gwadar, Balochistan), Khushi (Barkhaan, Balochistan), Umeed (Kohlu, Balochistan), Mashal (Loralai Balochistan to M. Amin Shar Village - Sindh). In 2022, one more camel, Estaal, joined the caravan in Passo – Gwadar, Balochistan.

For this project, a total of 700 books were sent to each library, along with rugs, cushions, puppet theatre and puppets. After raising funds, two of these camels were also given a Tech Bag which included tablets and their solar panel batteries through which Audio/Visual Aids could easily be accessed.

In the past three months, our camel Estaal has traveled into three or four different villages every week. In most of these regions, the children don't even know what a library is and have never read any sort of book. These camel libraries serve the purpose of providing these children with books, some of the stories are read out aloud to them. They are further tested on critical thinking and Reading Level Assessments are conducted to check whether the child is at a Beginner, Letter, Word, Sentence or a Story level.
Reading ignites creativity, sparks curiosity, and stimulates the imagination in young children. Often, this leads to role-play as children grow older, which helps to develop other skills such as empathy, problem-solving, and strong values.Through our camel libraries we are promoting early literacy skills which means helping children develop a rich vocabulary, self-expression, and reading comprehension—tools they need to become successful readers and lifelong learners.

To enhance our work further, we plan on providing training to all the facilitators of the camel libraries on the environment and climate change, arts and craft, local craft and improving comprehension through reading. For an organization to be effective and able to deliver its intended outcomes, its workforce needs to be skilled, competent and confident. In addition, the nature of libraries, across all sectors, means that they are subject to continual change, especially in today’s digital information environment. Similarly, the political and economic environments in which the libraries operate means that we need to be flexible, agile and continually evolving. In order for a library to embrace change, its workforce must continually develop its professional and technical skills. We will continue to develop those to make our Programme more relevant and tuned in to the needs of the areas where it operates.