In the wake of graduation and a string of innovations across the country’s education sector, the number of readers in the upmarket Rwanda is increasing.

The youth, as the proverbial leaders of tomorrow, have proved to be more and more interested in reading as compared to previous years. The patronage of the National Library in Kigali ranges from children to middle-aged book enthusiasts.

For 10-year-old Armond Ellis Shema, a Primary 4 pupil at Imena School who during the holidays is dropped off by his parents at the library together with his brother, this is an exercise he loves to partake.

“I love being in the Kids Zone,” said Shema. “I get to read my favourite book, The Magic School Bus.”

Grinning from ear to ear, Shema adds that he has always visited the library since 2013 and that, in school, he aces his classes and is in the “top two” league of performers.

For another youngster, David Gatabazi, 12, from Kacyiru Primary School, he too enjoys the library and on his non-school days he loves the One Laptop Per Child Section where he spends an hour going through educational materials.

“In 2012, my friends told me to come to the library because it was a fun place to learn, so I came, and since then I try not miss a day because I learn a lot here,” he said.

The reason that most students found it easier to be at the public library is because during the holidays school libraries are closed and many homes are not conducive for them to focus on their studies.

For high school study mates Angel Gwiza, 16, Lina Umwali and Arnold Byuma, both 17, the library is the place where they are away from their noisy younger siblings and distractions from television and music in the house.

The classmates from Green Hills Academy, who are preparing for their school leaving examination, say they come to the library due to self-motivation and a commitment as they want to be stellar students.

Great place

According to another group, the library is a great place but the problem is that, even though the librarians have already arranged the books as per their appropriate referencing, some regulars of the library tend to misplace books, hence giving other users a hard time finding them.

And it is not only students who frequent the library but even young entrepreneurs with businesses to build. Some also come to do research or to enrich their vocabulary and hone their reading skills on foreign texts that are readily available in the library.

The library boasts services such as Internet café membership and library subscription that has unlimited privileges for just Rwf10,000 per year.

The beautiful architecture, coupled with a warm ambiance in terms of lighting and the décor, will soon be a striking realisation as the new management, The Innovation Village, which was put in charge by the government, wants to make the facility better.

However some shelves lack books.