Mabuku Online, a local digital bookstore, has launched Mabuku Literacy Foundation to address challenges encountered by locals when accessing e-books.
The launch follows a poll that revealed that 63 percent of Malawians do not know how to buy ebooks.
The seven-day poll, conducted on Facebook by Mabuku Online sought to assess Malawians’ using digital platforms’ familiarity with buying local e-books.
Fifty-nine percent of respondents said they did not know how to buy, 15 percent had only bought from foreign platforms, 21 percent had purchased from Mabuku Online and four percent were unsure of the process.
| Courtesy of Clement Mambulasa
Founder of Mabuku Online Clement Mambulasa in an interview said they noticed a general lack of exposure to digital reading platforms which led them to conduct the poll.
“The biggest barrier is simply awareness. Many people still don’t know that ebooks are even an option, let alone how to access them,” he said.
In response to the findings, the digital bookstore has established Mabuku Literacy Foundation, an initiative that will focus on building digital skills among communities and students to promote access to ebooks.
“The foundation will focus on building
capacity to read and access ebooks. Whether it is teaching people how to download an ebook, reviving reading clubs or running reading campaigns in schools,” he said.
In addition, the foundation will run training sessions for communities and students, create guides in local languages and revive reading clubs in schools and communities.
The foundation, according to Mambulasa, will also support writers through training workshops, school tours and youth development programs so that they also benefit from the initiative.
Commenting on the poll results, Malawi Writers Union (Mawu) spokesperson Chifuniro Banda said the results reflect a reality that is not surprising considering ebooks are relatively a new trend for many.
“E-books are relatively a new trend to most Malawians. It is lately that Malawian authors are embracing the digital space. It is true that we neede more sensitisation on how people can access even local books online,” said Banda.
He said there is need for collaboration across the book value chain, from writers and publishers to education institutions to ensure that the move toward digital access is both sustainable and protective of creators’ rights.
“Mabuku Online is setting the trend we needed a long time ago. Previously, readers relied on platforms like Amazon, which are difficult to use due to forex challenges and lack of Malawian content.,” he said.
