DARLINGTON MWENDABAI
Lusaka

LUBUTO Library Partners (LLP) has been empowering young people through promoting a culture of reading, a habit which has helped many children and youths to be protected from falling into the ills of juvenile delinquency.
For the past 25 years, LLP has been positively shaping the character of young people, one book at a time. LLP director of operations Hadassah Kasukumya recently shared with the Young Mail the progression of Lubuto Library since its first inception.
Ms Kasukumya first volunteered with Lubuto in July 2013, and joined as a full-time staff member a few months later.
Over the years, she has worked as programme manager responsible for data collection and analysis, and worked on other administrative tasks before assuming the executive leadership of the Zambia office.
“Working with Lubuto, which was founded by Jane Meyers, has given me the opportunity to use my education and skills to serve the children,” she said.
Ms Kasukumya explained how LLP came into operation.
“LLP’s model urban library in Garden, Lusaka, was built and furnished with funds provided by Dow Jones and Company and was opened by late first republican President Kenneth Kaunda in 2010,” she said.
It was renovated to include solar power, satellite internet, spaces supporting early childhood and teen services, and library and information science (LIS) education capacity, with funds provided under a grant from USAID, before reopening in 2024.
The model rural library in Nabukuyu, which is 23 kilometres east of Monze, was built with funds provided by Comic Relief and the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa and opened in November 2014. USAID funding also provided equipment and a book collection to upgrade the rural library facility.
The Lubuto Centre for Training and Administration was constructed with the last grant received from USAID’s American Schools and Hospitals Abroad programme before USAID was disbanded at the beginning of 2025. Ms Kasukumya said the grant was meant to enhance LLP’s educational capacity through its primary teaching library.
An additional grant was awarded to LLP to create the same capacity, together with a residential facility, at the rural library in Nabukuyu, but the award was cancelled before implementation could begin, along with most other USAID awards.

“While we were disappointed not to be able to improve the Nabukuyu Library’s training facilities, we are grateful that all the infrastructure at the Model Library in Lusaka was completed and remains in service to Zambia,” she said.
From its inception, LLP recognised its role in supporting the Government in meeting its policy objectives by extending the public library services of the Zambia Library Service to meet the needs of Zambia’s children.
To this end, LLP entered into its first memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Education in October 2008, and the Government has since renewed the MoUs every five years.
The library has developed programmes and services that focus on both the general population and important underserved groups, including out-of-school children and children with disabilities.
LLP’s libraries have expertly selected and balanced book collections that children are drawn to read.
Additionally, LLP worked with the University of Zambia (UNZA) and the US Embassy to establish a Fulbright exchange position with UNZA’s library and information science (LIS) programme.
However, LLP has announced that its US operations are winding down while governance of the organisation is being transferred to its Zambia board.
LLP president and founder Jane Meyers said, “We will wind down our US operations by the end of 2027, and the organisation will become a fully Zambian entity governed by its Zambian board.”
This sets a critical target for the transition of the organisation into a fully Zambian entity.
Ms Meyers said the change provides a unique opportunity for Zambia to take advantage of the talent, infrastructure and programmes that LLP has developed to enhance the education of future generations of Zambians.