The long-awaited renovation of the Fort Portal Public Library has received a major boost after Tooro Kingdom donated Shs6 million towards restoring the ageing facility. Tooro Kingdom Prime Minister, Calvin Armstrong Rwomiire Akiiki, announced the donation on Monday during a visit to the library.
The funds will be used to repair the collapsed ceiling in the children’s section and repaint parts of the building. Rwomiire said the kingdom, as one of the founding members of the library’s Board of Trustees, could not stand by as an institution that has played a vital role in promoting education in the region continued to deteriorate.
He described the library as an invaluable resource for students, researchers and other readers, providing a conducive environment for learning. He called on the people of Tooro, development partners and other well-wishers to support efforts to restore the facility.
Rwomiire also revealed that friends of the kingdom in the United States had pledged to donate books and bookshelves to strengthen the library’s collection. He appealed to Tooro authors to donate copies of their novels, poetry, traditional tales, proverbs and other literary works to enrich the library while preserving the region’s literary heritage.
Rwomiire added that the kingdom would work with the library management to establish a special Tooro cultural section where books and materials documenting the kingdom’s history, traditions and culture would be preserved for future generations.
The donation comes at a time when the library is grappling with deteriorating infrastructure, inadequate funding and a shortage of learning resources. According to librarian Faith Muhereza, the library building, which was established in 1963, urgently requires renovation. She said several sections of the facility are dilapidated, with collapsed ceilings in some rooms and extensive termite damage to the reception ceiling.
Muhereza added that the library lacks sufficient funding to support its day-to-day operations and is also constrained by an inadequate number of computers, unreliable internet connectivity and a shortage of books, particularly those aligned with Uganda’s new competence-based Ordinary Level curriculum.
She also expressed concern over the library’s security, noting that it has neither a security guard nor surveillance camera.
She revealed that thieves recently broke into the premises and stole a television set and an internet router. Muhereza said the library also requires an electronic library management system to improve record-keeping, cataloguing and the management of books and other learning resources.
Joseph Mwesige, a resident of Fort Portal City and a regular user of the library, welcomed the kingdom’s intervention, saying the facility had been in poor condition for many years. He said the donation offers renewed hope that the library can be restored into a modern learning centre capable of adequately serving students, researchers and the wider community-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
