A school library should be more than a room filled with books. It should be a space where children discover new ideas, develop a love for reading, strengthen foundational learning skills, access information, and imagine new possibilities.
For Zambia, the vision is clear: a functional library in every school.
To advance this vision, the Zambia Library Service, in partnership with Thrive Library, convened a stakeholder engagement meeting to review and strengthen the Zambia School Library Development Framework 2026–2030.
The engagement brought together key partners and stakeholders to review the framework, share perspectives, identify opportunities for collaboration, and chart a practical pathway for establishing and effectively managing school libraries across the country.
Anchored on the recently approved Zambia National Library Policy, the framework provides an opportunity to translate national policy commitments into action within schools.
This means thinking beyond books and physical spaces. It means investing in the people, resources, technology, programmes, systems, and partnerships needed to make school libraries relevant, accessible, and sustainable.
Establishing school libraries at scale will require collaboration among government, schools, educators, librarians, development partners, communities, and other stakeholders.
The conversations therefore focused on an important question: How do we build school libraries that truly contribute to learning?
At Thrive Library, we believe the future of school libraries lies in creating vibrant learning environments where students can read, research, create, collaborate, access digital resources, and develop essential information skills.
The goal is not simply to establish more libraries.
The goal is to establish libraries that work.
The Zambia School Library Development Framework 2026–2030 represents an important step towards this vision.
Now, the work is to move from framework to action, and from action to impact.
A library in every school.
