Lessons for local‐global action and research

This report describes how a community library was identified as a need and was ultimately established in a Nigerian community. The Africa Book Project illustrates the challenges presented in applying theories of empowerment developed in the United States in an international setting and how the problems were resolved. The report examines the events through which a resource network was created as an organizing mechanism at both the individual and the collective levels. The report discusses the impact of subjective culture on the implementation of the field research. Lessons that can be applied in US communities, and the theoretical questions they raise, are presented.