Death and devastation of Cyclone Nargis
On May 3, 2008, Cyclone Nargis completed its devastating sweep across the Irrawaddy delta in Myanmar (formerly called Burma), passing directly over Yangon. No natural disaster has taken so many lives or destroyed so much habitation in Myanmar.
This event resulted in 135,000 dead or missing and rendered an estimated 800,000 people homeless. Additionally, large areas of the country experienced huge infrastructure, housing and agricultural damage much of which will take years to repair and replace. By any account, this was a major disaster.
Despite its poverty, Myanmar has more than 30,000 community libraries in addition to 150 college and university libraries. Burmese have a value for reading which is supported and encouraged by their history and culture. One of the casulties of Nargis has been many of the libraries.
Librarians sorting donated books, January 2009
In 2008, the Nargis Library Recovery project was born out of the vision of John Badgley, retired librarian/professor from Cornell University and founder of the Institute of the Rockies, and U Thaw Kaung, founder of Burma’s library diploma program and retired Central Universities Librarian. The project is jointly sponsored by the Institute, the Myanmar Book Aid and Preservation Foundation, and Ashin Nyanissara, abbot of Sitagu International Buddhist Academy.
Demonstration Shipment Success
In November 2008, we completed our first demonstration project … a 20 foot container of 8,000 books donated by the University of Washington and Halfprice Books were shipped and distributed to 60 libraries in Myanmar in January 2009. A committee of Burmese librarians sorted and distributed the books to libraries where they were most needed. We successfully demonstrated our ability to manage efficient and effective supply chain logistics from book sourcing in the USA all the way into the hands of appropriate local community libraries in Myanmar.
Rebuilding Libraries
The more ambitious phase of this project involves rebuilding & furnishing libraries destroyed by the Nargis cyclone, providing books & laptops, and help train community librarians to access world knowledge. Business owners in towns and cities often have access; training programs exist in most cities at small cost. In addition to Myanmar Book Aid and Preservation Foundation and Ashin Nyanissara’s NGO, our project is assisted by local businesses and monasteries.
IRS Accredited Charity
The Institute of the Rockies is an IRS-accredited 501c-3 organization and will continue sponsoring this project until we gain our own tax status. This means your donations are tax deductible. Our application for an independent 501c-3 public charity status was submitted in 2009 and is winding its way through the IRS process.
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