Debre Birhan, a two-hour drive from
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, is chilly year round. Liqour may come to
people’s mind as they hear the name of the town. Most people would ask for it
when we, the residents, go to other places. It is also a treat you should
expect if you show up here. Recently, the opening of a university, colleges, factories
and the population increase is changing the state of affairs in town. People
are coming to work in the factories and other newly-opened places of work. The
people from the districts around Debre Birhan also consider living in it as a
lifelong achievement.
As a teacher living and working in
this city administration, I thought I should address a need the increasing
population demands. Demands? Yes! Even if they do not demand I shall make them
demand it! They should feel hungry and thirsty of it. This need is none other
than reading. How I addressed it shall be revealed to you down below.
It was in 2016 that I learned how the
population was deprived of the opportunities to read and discover what the
writing world thinks about. My own family members were the ones who needed the
reading materials the most. As I walked in one of the outskirts of Debre
Birhan, I saw one room vacant. I rushed to the guys next to that room and found
out that the room was for rent. I paid on the spot and started to give a
bookstore and library service.
Ras Abebe Aregay Library
It is now a three-and-a-half year’s old library
which is the first of its kind in town. However, the situation was not as rosy at
the beginning. I had to post on every pole and stone to attract readers who
would otherwise frequent places of entertainment that didn’t include reading.
A typical resident would do something
for a living and spend his/her free time at a game zone, pub, with friends or
so. Reading would come to the minds of lucky few. If the student who knew
he/she had education as the only means of escape from the abject poverty, they
may read. They read in a certain fashion. No one would tell them how to.
As a lecturer in English literature
at Debre Birhan University, I had to employ my teaching position to promote
books and reading. Students who need rare books for their courses and
assignments access them at my place. One
would see me carrying a number of books to the university. I also lent them to
my students, mostly free of charge.
How is the progress of the library
over the years? I will treat this and other issues in my next article.
