Hartzell Primary School Library

Children reading in the Hartzell Primary School Library.

The Hartzell Primary School Library – now called the Maramba Library in honor of headmaster Naboth Maramba, who was instrumental in developing it – was begun in 1999 during the first 5 month period that we lived in Zimbabwe.Organized by school media specialist, JoAnn Floyd, 5000 books were collected by students at the Hartland Schools and sent to Hartzell.  Ann Arbor Greenhills School also sent books and Chelsea Retirement Community donated money so we could buy new books and books written for African children.Two unemployed high school graduates, Danai Noisi and Kuziwa Mawoyo were hired to help prepare the books for the shelves. A renovated classroom was outfitted with shelves and tables and a library with about 1200 processed books was opened in May, 1999.

When we came back in January of the next year the library was so crowded with books and donated computers that the school PTA had voted to build a new 3-room library. The children, parents, and staff at the school had raised 40% of the costs with fund drives and donations. When a VIM team visited from Michigan and promised to furnish the additional $10,000 needed to finance the new library, the groundbreaking was held in April and work began soon thereafter.

The new 3-room library building was dedicated in November 2000 and we went back for the dedication.

The library now has approximately 10,000 books processed and on the shelves with two library aides to take care of them.

For more recent pictures of the Maramba Library, click on the link to the right “Pictures of the Primary School Library” under the heading “Our Pictures”.