Ethiopia Project

“The idea seemed a little daunting at first – collect 10,000 books for a new library in Ethiopia.” says Highlander news writer, Richard Irwin. A little over a year later, Azusa Pacific University Library librarians, staff and student assistants evaluated, itemized, packed and shipped over 11,000 books to the remote country of Ethiopia. Ethiopian Pastor and former graduate student of APU, Dr. Badeg Bekele is spearheading the vision to build the beginnings of a library to support APU’s Operation Impact Program in that country.

Supporting him in this endeavor has been Dr. Paul Gray, University Library Dean; Dave Harmeyer, Chair of the Marshburn Memorial Library. Faculty Librarian, Evelyn Shimazu Yee will be traveling to Ethiopia in January 2006 to help Ethiopian Nationals set up their first library in support of APU’s Organizational Leadership courses. Barb Strother, wife of School of Business Faculty member, Stuart Strother will be accompanying our Librarian and assisting with the work abroad. In the future, the library will offer services to students and the work of the eleven teams of APU faculty traveling to Ethiopia this January.

Posted: January 27, 2006