Xolomon Wuche From Tuesday, the 2nd day of August until the end of the month, people who live in Port Harcourt will be able to read books without even paying for them.
This initiative called, the free mobile library is the brain child of Xolomon Wuche, who refers to himself as a Tech-preneur, Business Strategist and Development Social Entrepreneur.
In this enterprise, a bus loaded with books will move from one location to another, park and people can come in, pick a book and read. Some can even borrow books if they want to.
But why free mobile library?
Xolomon Wuche told Chinaacheru.com that as a kid growing up he did not have access to books because neither he nor his parents could buy them.
“I couldn’t buy books, my parents could not and there no library around where I grew up to borrow or read so it was hard to get books.
“I would practically go around town looking for adults that I could borrow from and it was difficult,” Wuche told Chinaacheru.com.
“It was also difficult getting text books for school as I could not afford them so I would borrow from friends during school hours and also go to the library to read.
“That is why I decided on this project because I believe there are kids out there who love to read but cannot afford them or even register in a library.”
He cited that he also believes there are families who cannot afford school books and that there are some who are through with school who may want to give out their books.
Has it been all rosy?
For a man who has put together lots of programs for corporate bodies before now, the idea of getting books together to be very difficult for him.
“People hardly wanted to support and funds for me are really low at this time.
“For example, I had planned to use a much bigger vehicle only for the owner to demand eighty percent down payment. I am in financial debt because of this, but I am still happy for what it will serve,” Wuche lamented.
But joy comes in the morning?
In spite of the difficulty, the free mobile library would eventually have books to give and that is down to the strategy employed.
“What I did was ask people to donate their old books they know they won’t be using and if they have no plans on opening a private library.”
And support came from a few organisations like the RISAA who gave permission for free, Digitplus, who printed out fliers and publicity materials for free too and PKO Technologies who gave out a communications phone for free as well.
“I would also love to thank the founder of Naijafoootball247.com and chinaacheru.com, Mr. China Acheru for using his radio contacts to get us on Nigeria Info FM, Garden City Radio and Rhythm FM in Port Harcourt. He was super helpful.
“A lot of friends gave their contributions here and there so it has been good generally,” Wuche said.
The free mobile library for everyone
Wuche and his team basically need three kinds of people which include the book owners to donate their books, the lover of books who has difficulty getting them and kids in school who cannot afford them.
“While the books owners are still expected to come forward and donate books, I want book lovers who don’t know where to get them to come over and see if they will love what we have. Then those like me who attended public schools and have no access to them should come and be part of this train.
“I am from Rivers State, have stayed in Lagos a bit and a constant visitor to Abuja. Now even though Port Harcourt defies market and project predictions, I think the people here will accept it.
“It is not a self-serving project and it not profit making either. I believe it will help change the mind of the people and the reading landscape of port-Harcourt.”
The idea was to start a free mobile library in Port Harcourt and then move over to, say, Bori, Omoku and other towns outside the state capital since the reading culture is presumably much lower outside the center of the state.
“We will even at some point take it outside Rivers State, our first targets being the Niger Delta areas,” he enthused.
“At the end of this one month, we intend to take whatever books that are left to orphanages. Most people who visit orphanages send food items and clothes, hardly books.
“It is great to send food to orphans but their minds need to be fed too and I want to use this opportunity to call on everyone who wants to support this cause to please get to us because we really need your support in any form.”
Xolomon Wuche, a restless idea-smith, as he describes himself runs an online tech company, www.privateschools.com.ng which is the auspices through which he is pushing FreeMobileLibrary.
You can reach Wuche via twitter on @XolomonW, and via telephone at +2348063997649
This initiative called, the free mobile library is the brain child of Xolomon Wuche, who refers to himself as a Tech-preneur, Business Strategist and Development Social Entrepreneur.
In this enterprise, a bus loaded with books will move from one location to another, park and people can come in, pick a book and read. Some can even borrow books if they want to.
But why free mobile library?
Xolomon Wuche told Chinaacheru.com that as a kid growing up he did not have access to books because neither he nor his parents could buy them.
“I couldn’t buy books, my parents could not and there no library around where I grew up to borrow or read so it was hard to get books.
“I would practically go around town looking for adults that I could borrow from and it was difficult,” Wuche told Chinaacheru.com.
“It was also difficult getting text books for school as I could not afford them so I would borrow from friends during school hours and also go to the library to read.
“That is why I decided on this project because I believe there are kids out there who love to read but cannot afford them or even register in a library.”
He cited that he also believes there are families who cannot afford school books and that there are some who are through with school who may want to give out their books.
Has it been all rosy?
For a man who has put together lots of programs for corporate bodies before now, the idea of getting books together to be very difficult for him.
“People hardly wanted to support and funds for me are really low at this time.
“For example, I had planned to use a much bigger vehicle only for the owner to demand eighty percent down payment. I am in financial debt because of this, but I am still happy for what it will serve,” Wuche lamented.
But joy comes in the morning?
In spite of the difficulty, the free mobile library would eventually have books to give and that is down to the strategy employed.
“What I did was ask people to donate their old books they know they won’t be using and if they have no plans on opening a private library.”
And support came from a few organisations like the RISAA who gave permission for free, Digitplus, who printed out fliers and publicity materials for free too and PKO Technologies who gave out a communications phone for free as well.
“I would also love to thank the founder of Naijafoootball247.com and chinaacheru.com, Mr. China Acheru for using his radio contacts to get us on Nigeria Info FM, Garden City Radio and Rhythm FM in Port Harcourt. He was super helpful.
“A lot of friends gave their contributions here and there so it has been good generally,” Wuche said.
The free mobile library for everyone
Wuche and his team basically need three kinds of people which include the book owners to donate their books, the lover of books who has difficulty getting them and kids in school who cannot afford them.
“While the books owners are still expected to come forward and donate books, I want book lovers who don’t know where to get them to come over and see if they will love what we have. Then those like me who attended public schools and have no access to them should come and be part of this train.
“I am from Rivers State, have stayed in Lagos a bit and a constant visitor to Abuja. Now even though Port Harcourt defies market and project predictions, I think the people here will accept it.
“It is not a self-serving project and it not profit making either. I believe it will help change the mind of the people and the reading landscape of port-Harcourt.”
The idea was to start a free mobile library in Port Harcourt and then move over to, say, Bori, Omoku and other towns outside the state capital since the reading culture is presumably much lower outside the center of the state.
“We will even at some point take it outside Rivers State, our first targets being the Niger Delta areas,” he enthused.
“At the end of this one month, we intend to take whatever books that are left to orphanages. Most people who visit orphanages send food items and clothes, hardly books.
“It is great to send food to orphans but their minds need to be fed too and I want to use this opportunity to call on everyone who wants to support this cause to please get to us because we really need your support in any form.”
Xolomon Wuche, a restless idea-smith, as he describes himself runs an online tech company, www.privateschools.com.ng which is the auspices through which he is pushing FreeMobileLibrary.
You can reach Wuche via twitter on @XolomonW, and via telephone at +2348063997649
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