You coordinated the ForMeL (Formation à la Médiation autour du Livre Jeunesse) project, winner of the 2023 “Ressources éducatives - Lire pour apprendre” call. Could you tell us about the origins of the project and present it to us?

The project is the result of several observations. Firstly, feedback from teachers, who note that students are reading less and less, and that this is not without consequences for their school results. A lack of regular reading leads to poor vocabulary and a reduced ability to analyse and understand statements. We therefore carried out a survey among 200 students at middle and high school level in 2021. It became clear that students only read during the school year, and then, mainly the books on the curriculum. We find ourselves in a situation where reading is constrained. This study also showed that reading is closely correlated with school results, with diligent readers being among the best students.

We therefore decided to make the acquisition of strong reading skills, from preschool and primary school, a priority. However, in Senegal, libraries are almost non-existent, with very poor collections and dilapidated premises that are unattractive to children. The staff at these libraries are not really trained – they are mostly retired teachers. As for teachers setting up reading corners in their classrooms, they told us they lack tools to facilitate a playful approach to reading. The EBAD therefore decided to support schools in setting up mechanisms to better manage libraries and stimulate students’ desire to read. We have been training teachers for four years, although this has proved to be far from sufficient in terms of requirements. The ForMeL project is part of this continuity, developing reading skills among students through learning for pleasure and free from constraint. 

The project consists of two parts, focusing on teacher training and the creation of a didactic tool entitled “Reading activities guide: making children want to read”. Can you tell us more about this? 

The ForMeL project is divided into two focus areas: trainer training and the creation of a didactic tool. 

The first focus is on the training of 40 head teachers and their assistants on youth library management and document mediation. Three modules were covered during training: (1) introducing youth literature and its mediation (2) creating the desire to read and prevent illiteracy, and finally (3) reconfiguring youth reading spaces and designing activities around books. 

The second focus is to write the “Reading activity guide: making children want to read”. This guide, designed using a co-constructive approach between teacher-researchers in libraries, librarians and stakeholders in the world of education, lists around a dozen principles so that children no longer perceive reading as a constraint. The child has the right to read what they want, they have the right not to finish a book, they have the right to read wherever they want, and reading should never be a punishment. Finally, the child has the right to Bovarysme, i.e. the right to identify with the characters. The idea is to focus less on the pedagogical dimension of reading and more on its fun, social and emotional functions. We also emphasise the importance of school library design, and offer 26 activity cards that aim to enable children to discover books in an interactive, creative and playful way. 

Could you tell us about the structure of the public reading network in Senegal? 

In Senegal, public reading is supervised by the Ministry of Culture, which coordinates the national network, organised at a regional level. Each region has a regional library and a Centre for Reading and Cultural Activities (CLAC): a project driven by the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, especially in rural communities. Another CLAC network is managed by the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, using the same model, but focusing on the Arabic language. There are libraries belonging to associations or local authorities, and finally, those managed by foreign partners. The latter, the libraries of the Institut français, the Alliances françaises, the Goethe-Institut or the Institut Confucius, are the most frequented, due to their extensive resources and often pleasant setting. 

What are the short term and longer term needs and goals of the ForMeL program? What was the role of the EBAD and the various institutional partners in this project? 

The first part is indeed institutional and political: we need a new framework law for the development of public reading in Senegal, the current decree from 1967 being outdated. Currently, national policy focuses on donating works and organising a book fair, which is not bad in itself, but remains insufficient. The network I have described cannot really function, it is too disparate and its different layers do not communicate with each other. The second component is the professional development of staff: only 15% are trained by EBAD, which reduces the management of these reading spaces. Recruitment also needs to be accelerated, as EBAD has trained librarians who still remain unemployed. We also need to remedy the fact that existing establishments do not have an acquisition budget and exist solely on donations of works that do not always meet the needs of their users. The library should be a dynamic place, a social space that reflects the concerns of its readers. 

How were the training course and guide received by the target audience? What do you now see as the future of this project? 

All of this was implemented just one month ago. However, the initial feedback from teachers was very positive, especially in terms of the transition from forced reading to reading for pleasure. Regarding the future, we are considering setting up a pilot phase for testing the guide, visiting establishments to get feedback. We would also like to reprint it in a much larger quantities, in order to be able to reach other academies in addition to the one in Dakar involved in this initial phase. Lastly, we are focusing on the implementation of a training course in youth library management.