4,143

libraries

4,315,274

books

4,143

libraries

4,315,274

books

Turning book drives into libraries

With an international network of partners, volunteers, and community supporters, book drives are transformed into sustainable libraries. Volunteers in North America organize book drives by rallying their communities to collect gently used children’s books and raise funds for shipping.  Potential library sites in underserved schools and communities in need of books are matched with a book drive to receive books. This approach is how the African Library Project can create, improve, and sustain small libraries throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.

Holding Hands for partnership

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Partners

We are partnered with local organizations in African countries that collect and submit library applications, provide teacher-librarian training, and receive and distribute the books.

Shipping Box

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book Drives

We mobilize volunteers in North America (U.S. and Canada) to organize book drives to collect, sort, pack, and ship children’s books.

African Library Book Shelf

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Sustain

Teacher-Librarian Manuals and training, and the biennial Best Practices Summit provide knowledge for proper library management for a sustained library.

African Girl Reading Book In Library

Why Organize a Book Drive with the African Library Project?

• Too many children on the African continent grow up without books, while bookshelves and landfills elsewhere overflow with books no longer read.

• In many communities we serve, young people have little to no access to reading materials.

• We serve Anglophone countries where students are tested in English for standardized exams required for advancement. However, these students lack books to support their reading development.

• Reading fosters critical thinking skills and creativity.

• Teachers in the areas we serve may teach reading, writing, math, and English without a single book to use as a resource.

Changing lives, book by book

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