Book cafes in Tanzania combine leisure and learning

By Kizito Makoye

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (AA) – To revive the dying culture of book reading amid the growing adoption of digital technologies, a non-profit organization in Tanzania is conducting myriad activities to provide people with an ambiance that motivates them to read books.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency on the eve of Libraries Week being observed from Tuesday, Demere Kitunga, chief executive officer of Readership for Learning and Development, said her organization is trying to create spaces for reading.

“We have done our bit in trying scenarios, but we could’ve done better under different circumstances,” she said.

The organization is working to hone the skills of young people and train them to be innovators and creators through reading.

“With them, we focus on research and writing activities that enable them to create contemporary children’s stories rooted in African folklore,” said Kitunga.

She said the organization arranges space for children to organize their reading clubs and manage mobile libraries. They lend books, read together and engage in storytelling.

Among other things, the organization is promoting book cafes across the country to encourage a reading culture.

At the Soma Book Cafe in Dar es Salaam, the major commercial port city of Tanzania, many people told Anadolu Agency that they are getting a serene atmosphere for education, which has helped retain the book reading culture.

“I have been to Soma Book Cafe many times. My first impressions were that it was a preferred place to have a drink, network, and also to make use of your brain faculties,” said Faraja Desderius, a student at Tumaini University Dar es Salaam College.

At book cafes, readers, writers and booklovers engage in various activities, mixing leisure with readings and discussions, said Kitunga.

According to her, the cafe was created in response to a cultural context where reading for pleasure was not sufficiently valued in Tanzania and therefore not encouraged informal training and the social scene.

“Reading and access to books were scarce and confined to a few existing public libraries and bookstores. People used to frequent pubs for leisure. We have combined both leisure and access to books,” she said.

The cafe was branded as an alternative urban space for leisure, culture and learning to underline the fact that reading also falls in those categories.

“For a country like ours where a reading culture was not so entrenched, we meant anyone profiting from the book trade had the obligation to give back by promoting reading,” she said.

Amid the impact of digital technologies, which observers say can potentially disrupt the habit of reading books, Kitunga said there was no difference between paper books and digital books, except that many people do not have access to the digital world.