Final poster presentation from Spring 2018

1. In many developing countries, like Haiti, education often
is not a priority. Once children are old enough, they drop
out of school to help out around the house.
percent of children in Haiti drop out of primary school
the third grade, 60 percent drop out before the sixth
and 99 percent do not complete secondary school².
percentages are even greater in rural areas like the
Plateau. Without continuing their education, many
children never learn to read and write in Creole and
French. This has led to an adult illiteracy rate of about
55 percent, which is the highest in the Western
Hemisphere³. With the help of partners like Summits
Education and Partners in Literacy Haiti, the library
project team will be able to supply library hubs with
books and education resources to over forty schools.
This will be accomplished through research in topics like
current library models in developing countries, possible
location sites, internet book sharing, and ways to ensure
accountability of the community and sustainability of the
model. With this research, a literature review will be
developed in order to design possible models to be
implemented into Haiti.
Background Information
Mission Statement
The mission of the library project is to develop an
accessible and efficient library system throughout
remote villages in Haiti that enriches the community
through education and recreation.
References
1 “UNICEF HUMANITARIAN ACTION HAITI." Humanitarian Action Report 2008. UNICEF,
2008. Web. 09 Feb. 2018.
² “Haiti - National Education Profile 2014 Update.” Education Policy and Data Center.
World Bank 2014, 2014. Web. 05 April. 2018.
³ “Statistics, At a glance: Haiti.” UNICEF, 27 Dec. 2013 Web. 09 Feb. 2018.
⁴ “The World Factbook: HAITI.” The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 2
Apr. 2015, Web. 05 April. 2018.
*Statistics are poorly reported in developing countries and may be outdated
Future
In the future, the group will begin a Kepner Tregoe (KT)
analysis, where different factors will be ranked in order
of importance for the success of the library system.
Using this analysis, a handful of library models will be
created and eventually tested throughout the Central
Plateau and the surrounding areas. The group will also
be actively searching for stakeholders and fundraising
opportunities in order to help cover the costs of this
expensive venture. Looking long term, the group will
implement a few of their models in Cange and the
surrounding rural areas to serve as beta models. These
will then be analyzed and improved upon, with the final
model eventually being implemented in other rural areas
of Haiti. The end goal is to create a large network of
libraries throughout the region that will collaborate in
the pursuit of improving literacy within the country.
Partnerships
Throughout the semester, we have partnered with both
Summits Education and Partners in Literacy Haiti.
Summits Education is an organization that promotes
education throughout the Central Plateau of Haiti, and
Partners in Literacy Haiti is an organization based in
Greenville, SC that promotes literacy throughout Haiti.
We plan to use our research to implement three library
models in pilot schools that were established by
Summits Education. Many of the schools have allocated
space to place a library already. The pilot schools are as
follows:
• Domond
• La Colline
• Cameforer Thomonde
Acknowledgements
This work was supported in part by the Clemson University Creative
Inquiry Program, the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina, Partners
in Literacy Haiti, and Summits Education.
The Library Project
Amanda Steel, Madison Stanley, Joey Henze, Nikki Bono
Jennifer Paloni, Natalie Osten and David Vaughn
Figure 2. Comparison of the current literacy rates in Haiti
and the United States as of 2017⁴*
As one of the research topics, studying current library
models in other developing countries will provide a
reference and a good springboard for developing and
implementing our system, as well as a reference for
possible needs that we would not be able to foresee
otherwise. The site chosen for a library must be as
accessible as possible to as many people as possible,
but also affordable so that we can conceivably build it.
This means ensuring that it is near roads, near a sizable
population who will utilize it, and deciding based on
availability between building a new building and using a
preexisting one. It is also important to ensure that there
are accountability checks in place to make sure the
facility and books are kept up with and the materials are
returned. Through researching internet book sharing, we
plan to pursue a possible partnership with Libraries for
All, a non-profit that supplies online books to schools in
developing countries, to utilize their advice and
resources. We also intend to conduct interviews of
people in Haiti about the areas of interest to determine
cultural attitude and needs about the idea of a library.
Current Research
Figure 3. Project lifecycle development
Figure 4. Summits Education’s proposed teacher training
facility
Figure 1. The drop out rates of Haitian school children *
Starting point: 55% Illiteracy
Rate
Research and Development
Implementation
Improvement
Expansion
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Female Male
LiteracyRate(%)
Literacy Rate in the U.S. and Haiti
United States Haiti
99%
Of students do
not complete
secondary
school
60%
Of students drop
out of school
before sixth
grade
30%
Of students drop
out of school
before third
grade