“The library supports all the programs here, from Bachelor to PhD, and all the students have work to do and theses to write – using these books! They cannot do it without them.”
Chantal N’guessan has been a Library Director for 18 years at The Christian Alliance University of Abidjan Library (UACA) in Côte d’Ivoire. As Director, she has responsibility for all their resources, including collecting and documenting new acquisitions – some of which come from Langham Partnership!
She explains, “The contribution of our donors like Langham is very important. Once we’ve received whatever order we have for the day, we take into account the needs of our readers. My duty is to process those orders and also to make them available to the readers.”
From personal collection to public resource
The library at UACA was established in 1993. Originally it started as the personal library of the first dean, Dr Tite. At that time the university only had seven students! So as the university grew and the personal library became a university library, the book collection needed to grow too. Langham Partnership was able to help in this growth then and still contributes to their book collection today.
Chantal says, “Langham was a privileged partner for us through the giftings of books that were sent. They provided all the theological disciplines in the New Testament and mostly in French.”
Since UACA is in a francophone country, books in French are extremely important, however, they can also be hard to come by.
Chantal explains, “Langham helps us to buy books at a very low cost. Langham has also helped us to acquire handbooks in Hebrew and Greek. Books like the Greek New Testament and the Greek-French dictionary. Langham has enabled us to get all these fundamental books, and in turn, this helps students to get those books at a very low cost.”
Chantal is very proud of what the library has become, and is thankful to how Langham has contributed to its collection over many years!
Many of the books the UACA library has received come through Langham Literature’s distribution program. In the 23/24 financial year, Langham supplied over 11,000 Bible-centred books to 713 Majority World colleges across 85 countries. 9,590 of these books were supplied to 703 colleges free of charge through the Library Grants program!
Theological leaders and pastors in training need books
Why is it important for students who are training to be pastors, ministry workers and theological leaders to have access to good books? It’s essential for their growth and understanding!
Chantal says, “The library supports all the programs here, from Bachelor to PhD, and all the students have work to do and these to write – using these books! They cannot do it without them.”
Books provide supplementary learning and enable personal research into God’s Word and topics of Christian living and ministry that are important for students to investigate and learn outside of the classroom.
Chantal explains, “It is not up to the lecturer to give everything. The student needs to also participate in their training by doing research work, and they cannot succeed in doing that without these books. A third of the work is given by the lecturer and two-thirds of the work is carried out by the student. And this tells you how important it is to have books available for students to carry out their own research!”
Reflecting on Langham’s influence on the books the library now has, Chantal shares, “I would like to thank Langham for everything, and thank all the people that are working with Langham. We work with those who are handling book orders and book distribution. But we are aware that there is a whole team working behind those people. We also are grateful for the donors of Langham and those who pray for the ministry. The work that you’re doing has a big impact on Christianity in Africa.”