welcome to Harambee! 2021
Missed the event? Watch it here!
3,251
Libraries within 13 Countries
3,313,276
books shipped
1,500+
Partnerships
Our Mission: The African Library Project changes lives book by book, together with partners in Africa and North American volunteers to create, improve, and sustain libraries in African communities
Our Vision: expand opportunities by creating spaces that nurture literacy.
Why Organize a Book Drive with the African Library Project?
• Too many African children grow up without books, while U.S. bookshelves and landfills overflow with books no longer read.
• In many of the communities we serve, young people have little to no access to reading materials beyond textbooks (when provided).
• We serve Anglophone countries where students are tested in English for standardized exams that are required for advancement. However, these students lack books to support their reading development.
• Reading fosters critical thinking skills and creativity.
• Teachers in many rural areas may teach reading, writing, math and English without a single book to use as a resource.
Our Approach
Our volunteers in the United States and Canada organize book drives by rallying their communities to collect gently used children’s books and raise funds for shipping. Thanks to our international network of partners, volunteers, and community supporters, these donated books are transformed into sustainable community-based libraries. Here’s how we do it!
1. Partner
We partner with local organizations in Africa to find and vet schools and communities in need of books.
2. Mobilize
We mobilize volunteers and match each U.S. or Canadian book drive to an approved African school or community.
3. Distribute
Working with our partners, we ship and distribute each library to the recipient school and provide support and training for sustainability.
Youth Leadership
Our book drives are great opportunities for young people to sharpen key organizational and leadership skills, while making a difference for others. Our Youth Ambassadors work within their local communities to spread the work of the African Library Project, advocate for global literacy, and mobilize and support their peers to get involved. Through this program, young leaders explore unique ways to make impact as global citizens.
Our Blog
BDO Spotlight: Grace Tulinsky
Grace Tulinsky was inspired to start her first book drive with African Library Project during the Summer of 2018 after she learned, through a research project, about the empowerment education can provide girls in Africa. Since then, she organized five book drives with...
Our Newest Partner in Uganda talks about why access is essential for students
enjuba is African Library Project’s most recent partner in Uganda. In Uganda, eight of every ten children of 10 years or under cannot read. enjuba is working to help increase the literacy rate in the country by bringing reading into Ugandan culture. One step they’re...
The First African Library Project Library
Chris Bradshaw has had a connection to Africa since she spent her junior year studying at Fourah Bay College, part of the University of Sierra Leone. She wanted to help the communities she visited, but wasn’t sure what to do at the time. It wasn’t until years later...
