According to Olga Tsimanyane, Botswana’s partnership with the African Library Project has begun affecting Government policies regarding education. Specifically, the Government is incorporating the establishment of primary school libraries, courtesy of African Library Project books, into its Vision 2016, a “Botswana blue print that seeks to propel Botswana’s socio-economic and political development into that of a competitive, winning, and prosperous nation.” Consisting of 7 target pillars of development, Vision 2016’s principal pillar is to build “an educated and informed nation.”

Before the African Library Project, Tsimanyane claims the Government always wanted to build libraries in their schools. Unfortunately, due to a lack of books, potential projects worked only “haphazardly.” Now that the partnership with ALP has been made, not only have 67 libraries been established in the model South Region, but every school already established in Botswana would like to receive books from America. The Ministry of Education has decided that all new primary schools to be built in Botswana will now be built with a library. The Government is providing clearance for ALP books to pass through customs duty free. As Tsimanyane puts it, the incorporation of African Library Projects books into the primary schools have “changed the Government’s attitudes significantly” regarding what can or can’t be done.

Along with the establishment of libraries, Tsimanyane will be heading the initiative for monitoring and evaluating the success of libraries in Botswana. Having just taken a Monitoring and Evaluation course in Ottawa, Canada, Tsimanyane is taking home ideas for evaluating the functionality of ALP libraries through surveys, site visits, and test score comparisons.

The amazing changes in Botswana’s educational outlook, through the advent of African Library Project books and libraries, could not have been implemented without the will, drive, and compassion of individuals such as Olga Tsimanyane. It is through her on-the- ground efforts that this project has not only begun as a success, but is looking endlessly promising for the future. When asked if she thought that there might be any potential setbacks in such promising educational developments, Olga simply and ever-optimistically replied, “Of course not, for God will provide.”