6 Jun 2012

Bougainville library needs more funding

10:38 am on 6 June 2012

More funds still need to be raised to ensure a library being built in the autonomous Papua New Guinea province of Bougainville can be sustained for the long term.

The campaign to build the library is led by author Lloyd Jones, whose award wining novel, 'Mr Pip' is set in Bougainville in 1991, during the decade-long civil war.

The book has also been adapted into a movie, which was filmed in Bougainville and is set for release later this year.

Lloyd Jones says while the library is expected to be completed by the end of the year, more money is still needed to buy books and sustain community outreach programmes.

"It's not a case of just building a building and putting books in there and walking away and thinking that's a job well done because it's not. It's what happens after and how the community connects with that library."

Lloyd Jones says the focus is now shifting to creating community activities that will help raise literacy rates and teaching the community how to engage with the library.