A British-born Ghanaian author, Sylvia Arthur is being celebrated for a personal initiative of building a library that houses works solely from black writers.
Checkoutafrica.com reported that in 2017, Sylvia Arthur packed up her belongings, including what remained of her personal library, and left London for Accra, the capital of Ghana, her parent’s home country.
Driven out of the U.K. by the high cost of living and hostile political environment, she sought peace in West Africa. Part of feeling at home in Ghana was down to the fact that her complete book collection, over 1,300 works collected over two decades predominantly by writers of African descent, had long been in her mother’s house in Kumasi.
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Overcome by guilt that the books were not being read, and seeing the need for contemporary, culturally-relevant literature, she decided to open her library to the public. This gives people access to the books and amplifies the voices of Black writers on the continent.
Arthur said: “I believe in literacy for all, regardless of socioeconomic status, and develop programmes and events that meet the people where they are. We regularly serve over 1000 children by giving them access to great books through two Little Libreria, school libraries in underserved communities."
In 2018, Arthur and her friend, James Ankobia, co-founded #BookDropGhana. It mobilised returnees to bring a book with them to donate, and created a movement, generating over 400 donations in under four weeks.