Friends of African Village Libraries (I post regularly here)- Daytime session at Sherigu Community Library
- La deuxième journée des activités de café littéraire à la bibliothèque de Boni
- Échanges avec la nouvelle gérante de la bibliothèque de Koho
- Reprise des activités de la bibliothèque mobile Pénélope
- Sortie de la Bibliothèque Mobile Pénélope à l’école Sainte Thérèse
- Bonne nouvelle pour les amoureux de la lecture à Niankorodougou
- Bibliothèque communautaire de Zimtenga ! Les livres attendent patiemment le retour des communautés
- Bilan des activités du mois d’août de la bibliothèque de Bougounam
- Bilan des premières journées du café littéraire
- Nyariga community library, daytime activities
Author Archives: mkevane
Are you a social scientist or historian who disdains the idea of counterfactuals? Get thee away, Satan.
A nice summary of a general problem in the social sciences, from Eric Hilt: The historians of capitalism would also have benefitted from incorporating counterfactuals into their analysis. These are, of course, thought experiments in which some condition is changed, … Continue reading
Posted in Development thinking
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Reestablishing electricity grid looks like a tremendous problem in Puerto Rico; main plant flooded
El director ejecutivo de la Autoridad , Ricardo Ramos, informó que el 80% del sistema de transmisión y distribución de la Autoridad de Energía Eléctrica (AEE) colapsó tras el azote del huracán María. Dijo que el reto para energizar Puerto … Continue reading
Posted in Burkina Faso
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Robin Einhorn’s review of Walter Johnson on slavery and cotton in the South
It is a decent review, but she doesn’t finish the thought in the review… If all we mean by “capitalism” is exploitation for profit, then Kenneth Stampp’s The Peculiar Institution (1956) might have put an end to the discussion by … Continue reading
Posted in Burkina Faso
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Stories from The New Yorker
On the flight back from Burkina Faso I got to read three short stories from old issues of The New Yorker that I found in the FAVL office, leftovers from 2014! “Story with Bird” by Kevin Canty is an amazing … Continue reading
Posted in Book and film reviews
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What libraries are for! Reading in Sumbrungu
Posted in Reading
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Evariste Meda from BurkinaInfo TV interviewed Dounko and I about FAVL
It was fun to do a studio interview. Evariste Meda was a great interviewer. FAVL-BF director Sanou Dounko did a fantastic job.
Posted in Burkina Faso
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Long, depressing opinion piece on hospital services in Ouagadougou
La situation est plus préoccupante au Centre hospitalier universitaire Yalgado Ouédraogo (CHU-YO), le plus grand centre hospitalier du pays. L’on se rappelle que lors de la visite du Premier ministre Paul Kaba Thiéba, le 6 juin dernier, le scanner était … Continue reading
Posted in Burkina Faso
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Solari board at a train station, takes you into the past
My sister reminded me of what these are called. We had been talking about flying on the upper deck of 747 or Airbus… how for our generation that was “the future” and then of course these are “the past.”
Posted in Personal Kevane life
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Feersum Endjinn by Iain Banks
Last year I start to read Wasp Factory by Iain Banks but I could not finish it: too bleak, too violent, too disturbing. But I saw a mention of Feersum Endjinn somewhere, and so requested it through interlibrary loan. What … Continue reading
Posted in Book and film reviews
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Understatement of the year, but so true: Supervision matters for effective public services
This is obvious and true, but well worth the experiment because it has to be reinforced over and over again for NGOs and government: We conclude that sustained supervision is crucial for achieving persistent improvements in contexts where the lack … Continue reading
Posted in Development thinking
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Recent fiction reading
Arcadia, by Iain Pears. Superb sci-fi/fantasy novel. If you liked The Magicians by Lev Grossman, or Jo Walton’s Among Others, then good news: this is much better! It really is almost perfect. And it deliberately mashes in As You Like … Continue reading
Posted in Book and film reviews
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Mamdani defines decolonising the mind as critical thinking in a liberal arts education
From a nice summary of a recent lecture in South Africa. Saying that decolonizing education is critical thinking strikes me as a trite observation dressed up with a raised fist. Good tactic? Deep thought? Amazing metaphor? Silly? Dismissive of people … Continue reading
Posted in Burkina Faso
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Listening to LCD Soundsystem’s new song, “American dream” and reading Garth Greenwell’s “An Evening Out” in The New Yorker
Let’s just say that in my opinion they are a perfect pairing. If you like your New York global-cosmo gay scene nostalgic, melancholy, aging, incredibly perceptive, excellent writing and music… It is the 2017 version of the 1970s Manuel Puig … Continue reading
Posted in Book and film reviews, Music
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Sharp words from a police officer about the lack of anti-terrorist strategy in Burkina Faso
Un gendarme, qui a participé à l’assaut de dimanche, se montre tout aussi critique envers les autorités du moment : « Nous n’avons pas du tout tiré les leçons de l’attaque du 15 janvier 2016. Il y a eu des … Continue reading
Posted in Burkina Faso
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‘The Violin Player’ review from Hollywood Reporter
On Netflix. Interesting. I think OK to fast-forward through the beginning, which indeed is very slow. On his way home, the unexpected happens. At the train station, on the other side of the tracks, a distinguished looking man in glasses … Continue reading
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The Greenville Eight – Integrating American libraries in the South
On the afternoon of July 16, 1960, eight African-American students bravely filed into the whites-only Greenville County (S.C.) Public Library and sat down in the reading room to look at newspapers and books. One of those students was a young … Continue reading
Posted in Public library history
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Wayne Wiegand’s short article on the struggle of young people like Joseph Jackson to desegregate libraries in the South in 1961
Read the full article here, “Desegregating Libraries in the American South” Forgotten heroes in civil rights history” by Wayne A. Wiegand in American Libraries. At 11 a.m. on March 27, 1961, nine students from the historically black Tougaloo College walked … Continue reading
Posted in Public library history
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Another The New Yorker story: Ann Beattie “Save a Horse Ride a Cowgirl”
“Save a Horse Ride a Cowgirl” by Ann Beattie appeared in the November 23, 2015 issue of The New Yorker. Another story about growing older. This one with a deliberate nod to Chekhov and the seagull… Does Bree destroy Ryall, … Continue reading
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Recent The New Yorker short stories
While on vacation last week I read a bunch of short stories from the past couple years from The New Yorker. Sorry to say that many were not very good. I don’t expect perfection, and it is nice to read … Continue reading
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