The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) handed over 68,680 children’s books to 83 public libraries in the country. The organization reported.
The handover ceremony was held in Cholpon-Ata with the participation of Muktaly Bektenaliev, Advisor to the Minister of Culture, Information, Sports and Youth Policy of the Kyrgyz Republic, and Saule Khamzina, head of the USAID Okuu Keremet project.
The event was held as part of the XXI International Conference Issyk-Kul — 2023: Libraries and Democratization of Society dedicated to the 95th anniversary of the famous Kyrgyz writer Chingiz Aitmatov, organized by the Kasymaly Bayalinov Republican Library for Children and Youth.
The new books are the result of the work of 80 local authors and 35 illustrators who created about 1,500 children’s books of various genres with support from USAID’s Okuu Keremet project. The books promote values such as family and friendship, respect and develop curiosity and creativity.
Electronic versions of these books, including 40 translated into sign language, are available on the website of the Ministry of Education and Science and in the international digital Bloom Library.
By the end of 2024, at least 1,681 target schools of the project will receive more than one and a half million children’s books.
USAID’s Okuu Keremet project aims to improve reading and math learning outcomes among more than 450,000 elementary school students. The project is implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Education and covers about 75 percent of the country’s schools.
