An Interview with Chris Bradshaw  

From November 8-12, 2009, the African Library Project will sponsor its second African Partners Summit, this year in Morija, Lesotho.  In this interview, ALP Founder Chris Bradshaw explains why the Summit is vital for the development of ALP’s African partners.

Q:  What’s the challenge with developing libraries in Africa?

A:  Africans working in rural library development have a long, lonely, uphill battle. Many are passionate about starting libraries, but they struggle to get books to stock them.  Most countries have no publishing industry.  Most cities don’t even have a single bookstore.  In fact, most Africans are reluctant readers because they have nothing to read except a few old textbooks.  It’s a tough scenario for library development:  no books, few teachers or librarians, isolated efforts, and reluctant readers.

Q:  What kind of aid is available?

A:  Most big, international conferences focus on how to create online libraries that enter the digital era.  That’s important but irrelevant to the huge majority of Africans who live in areas without electricity.  Some dedicated library activists have been working on their own to gather and display books, but they have few opportunities to exchange ideas about what works best in the unique cultural context of Africa.

Q:  What is your approach?

A:  The African Library Project has been quietly starting and improving small libraries in sub-Saharan Africa for the past 4 years.  Our grassroots nonprofit organization, based in the SF Bay Area, has developed a unique method that has been embraced by both Americans and Africans.  Using only volunteers, the African Library Project coordinates book drives throughout the US, then matches each book drive with a specific library project in Africa.  Each book drive organizer commits to collecting and sorting 1,000 gently used children’s books and raising $500 to help cover the cost of shipping.  

When a village asks to receive donated books, their application is reviewed and approved by an African Library Project partner organization, such as US Peace Corps Lesotho, Swaziland National Library Service and the Botswana Ministry of Education.  Since we began four years ago, ALP has started or improved 375 small libraries in eight African countries with about 400,000 donated books.

Q: What’s been the impact?

A: Library activists are excited by the unleashed potential.  This steady stream of bookdrives offers access to books to hundreds of thousands of African readers. Just this month, the BBC carried an article about a Malawian boy that had to drop out of school because he couldn’t afford school fees, but he managed to educate himself in a small local library.  Upon seeing a picture of a windmill in a book, he proceeded to build one from discarded bicycle and tractor parts and old plastic pipes.  Now his home has electricity and he’s working to irrigate his family’s fields!

Q: So, all we have to do is send lots of books?

A: The African Library Project learned quickly that shipping books is not enough to make a library thrive.  A crucial role is played by African partner organizations, African teacher-librarians, and African community members to ensure that libraries are well-run and that the books are widely circulated and enjoyed.  So we spend a lot of effort to develop strong partnerships.

Q: What is the African Partners Summit, and why is it important?

A:  On November 8-12, 2009 the African Library Project is sponsoring its second African Partners Summit in Morija, Lesotho.  An international team of library coordinators will meet with ALP partners from Malawi, Lesotho, Botswana, Swaziland and the USA.  Together they will tour libraries in Lesotho, share best practices, and launch a new tracking system to measure their libraries’ growth. On the final day, sixty teacher-librarians from surrounding villages will join the Summit for free workshops on how to spread the best ideas in library development across the country.  Last year, our first Summit stimulated profound insights and solid growth during the year, so we are excited to sponsor a larger, improved Summit this year.