The Orange Library is moving!

We love our current space, it’s the perfect little library we dreamt it would be. But with kids sprawling across the floor so you can’t get through, the older teenagers hoarding the sofas, and anyone wanting privacy kicking out whoever’s in the office (that said, the office doesn’t even have a door!).

It is time for us to move on to a bigger space.

Before we get ahead of ourselves, a short introduction is called for

At its heart, The Orange Library is a safe space for young adults in The Gambia. Here we, on a daily basis, create a space where young people can rest, learn, be themselves, where everyone is seen and appreciated. Here our differences are valued, not merely tolerated, and we work so that no one feels the need to present a specific version of themself in order to be comprehensible to the world.

Freedom and care are at the center of our work. Everyone who comes to the library learns that there are two rules that guide how we use this space. First, everyone is welcome and everyone is safe. Second, we take care of each other, and are responsible for the space together. For example, if you notice that somebody is sad, you ask if you can help, you make the library good for others, trusting that they do the same for you.

Every day at The Orange Library,

we get to welcome people and see what they do with the space, how they interact with it and with each other. How they use books, art materials, electronics, the internet, our balcony, games, what they learn or show others. And we get to see kids get more comfortable, find their ways around the place, internalise that they can be here more freely without others telling them how to sit or what to do.

One of the ways we notice this is in how kids eventually realise that here they do not have to hide if they don't know how to do something, they can instead ask for help and take their time learning. It is a big deal for someone to get to the point where they can admit that they don't know how to read, for example. Some of our absolute favourite things are how, a few months into coming to the library and with a little attention, young people who couldn’t read or count will perform at our poetry nights, write short stories and help each other figure out math problems.

To continue doing this work,

we need time and we need to move into a bigger and more suitable space. We already have an exciting place in mind, and to move there by the end of the year we need to cover the rent for 2026 (65000 SEK). We are also raising money to cover the salaries for two part-time librarians (30000 SEK), and to get books and art materials (5000 SEK).

About the new space

Our new space is located about three kilometres away from where The Orange Library is right now. It is part of a larger community center that has a playground, a podcast studio, a workshop and a garden, a concert hall and soon also a library. The spot reserved for The Orange Library looks at the ocean, we can sit on the floor and watch the waves! There will be a quiet room, an open library space, a small office, a workshop/arts & crafts room and a kitchenette. At our new location, we will be able to have more people use the library at the same time, and we will be able to attend to the kids’ different needs better. Just having different rooms is already going to be so helpful, for the kids to do different things in different areas of the library without getting in each other's way (too much).

Fundamentally, no matter where we are located, The Orange Library is a space where people are cared for and loved. We work so that this love and this care doesn’t only happen at the library but becomes a practice that we take into the world outside. We trust that this will lead to a more care-full and caring world, a world where freedom is for everyone.

Help us do this work by donating, by sharing, send our fundraiser to your friends, to your local libraries, send our fundraiser to your local newspapers, to your parents, send our fundraiser to everybody you know who cares about community and about creating safe spaces for each other. Spread the word far and near, we need all the help we can get.

Let’s do this!!! I have all the faith in us.

If the library is forced to shut down, it shouldn’t be because of money issues.

All the love,

Ben