Book Aid International Changing Lives Through Reading

Book Aid International Changing lives through reading Book Aid International is the UK’s leading book donation and library development charity working in sub-Saharan Africa

We work in partnership with libraries providing books, resources and training to support an environment in which reading for pleasure, study and lifelong learning can flourish. Book Aid International Book Aid International has worked supported my reading as a in close partnership with library child in Ghana more than services for over 60 years. 60 years ago. Today it is By supporting libraries, we can doing the same for a new provide millions of people with generation of young Africans the books they need to develop and reaching out as well to their skills and read for pleasure – farmers, clinicians, emerging from children to adults, students entrepreneurs and students to professionals and farmers to with books and learning medical staff. materials. We receive no UK government This is the most precious tool funding for our work and are for development. There can be funded entirely through the no greater gift we can make to support of individual donors, shape a better world for all. trusts, foundations and corporate supporters. Our work is supported by committed volunteers who help The Rt Hon The Lord Boateng PC DL, in our warehouse and fundraise Chair, Book Aid International in their local communities on our behalf.

Our vision is of vibrant libraries, inspired readers and empowered communities. What we do

We are based in London and source new books from UK publishers. We work with partners in Africa to improve public and community libraries and libraries in schools, training colleges, universities, hospitals, prisons, refugee camps and slums in the following ways:

SUPP TRAIN LIB LY BOOKS RARIANS

Each year we supply our library partners We provide training and skills with around one million brand new, development for librarians as part of carefully selected books donated by our projects, especially in working with publishers. children.

SUPPORT DEVELOP READERS PROJECTS

The books we send are distributed to We collaborate with over 50 partners and thousands of libraries across Africa. deliver projects that help library users We estimate our work reaches around get the most out of the books we send. 24 million people annually at every age Elements can include grants for local and stage from pre-school children book purchase and library refurbishment; to university students, healthcare training and skills development for professionals and farmers in rural librarians and teachers. communities.

SUPPORT DIGITAL SCHOOLS ACCESS

We supply school libraries with children’s In some projects we supply e-readers books which support reading and literacy. and tablets pre-loaded with e-books and In some projects we also train teacher educational content. We fund training for librarians in managing a school library librarians in using these resources with and how to use books to enhance their children. lessons. Our work

Where we work Book Aid International partners with organisations in 12 countries in sub- Saharan Africa and we also have a small project in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Eritrea We operate in countries Sierra Ethiopia where English is spoken Leone or used as a medium of Cameroon South instruction in school as Sudan the majority of books Uganda publishers donate to us Somalia are in English. Tanzania Kenya

Zambia The books we send Malawi All the books we send are brand new. Our team, led by a professional librarian, makes book selections based on our Zimbabwe partners’ requirements. Children’s books and primary education make up two thirds of our provision and we also provide our partners with thousands of books in vocational and professional subjects, higher education, medicine, law and reference.

The books we receive from Book Aid International add important value to our library as they have enabled the library to provide information which is current, relevant and reliable.

Tanzanian Training Centre for International Health Working with partners

We work with over 50 in-country partners.

Our partners are best-placed to understand the needs of the communities they serve and we work closely with them to ensure the books we send and the programmes we develop meet local needs. Our partners include national library services such as the National Library of Uganda and Tanzania Library Services Board; NGOs such as Africa Educational Trust, African Prisons Project and Plan International and government departments such as the State of Eritrea Ministry of Education.

How the partnership works:

Requirements Our partners tell us the categories of books Reports they need. Donations Our partners report All of the books on where the books we send are donated have been distributed, by UK publishers. We how they’ve been used work with publishers to and share the great secure the books our feedback from partners need. library users. It is amazing that books for the current year can be found in the Recording Reading boxes of books we receive. The books we Millions of readers receive from publishers from all ages and stages I am impressed by the are sorted and logged of life enjoy the books updatedness of the into our warehouse we send and improve stock given out. inventory system by our their lives through team of staff and reading. volunteers. John Kiweng, Head Teacher St Agnes School, Yaoundé, Cameroon Selection Distribution Our team, led by a professional When a shipment librarian, selects books arrives, our partners to match our partners’ stamp each book and requirements. Details of distribute them to their Packing the books selected network of libraries. are sent to our The books are packed partners. and shipped from our warehouse by our team of staff and volunteers. Our programmes

We develop programmes in collaboration with our library partners in response to their strategic plans, the needs they identify and their aspiration to offer new services and innovations. Our work primarily focuses on two main areas: libraries in schools and children’s services in public libraries.

Open Doors: creating Children’s Inspiring Readers: our school Corners in public libraries library programme Working with our partners, we are We aim to improve reading opportunities creating Children’s Corners in seven for school children and help them African countries which will benefit progress in their education by supporting thousands of children by providing them 310 primary schools which would with their own library space, a trained otherwise have no books. We provide librarian and thousands of books to Book Box Libraries containing 1,250 brand develop their love of reading. new children’s books to each school – picture books, simple readers, fiction, Each corner receives 2,500 brand new non-fiction leisure reading and reference children’s books from the UK and a grant books – including locally published titles. to purchase locally-published books. The headteacher and two teachers from In some projects, e-readers and tablets each school attend training in how to are also provided. We supply a small establish and run a Book Box Library grant to refurbish a space in the library in school, integrate the use of non- to house the Children’s Corner and make curriculum books in lessons and promote it suitable and inviting for children. Two reading. librarians from each participating library attend specialist Book Aid International- facilitated training to help them work with children effectively.

The space is beautiful, well- decorated and is child-friendly. Now the children are able to come there, they will be able to read their books aloud, show each other pictures, laugh and have a happy time. . . This is the best achievement that Blantyre Library has done.

Nancy Phiri, Head Librarian at Blantyre Public Library, Malawi Our individual projects

We develop individual projects with partners in response to a particular local need. This might include medical, school outreach, digital, mobile library and youth projects. These projects are individually funded and are specific to the region or country where our partner operates.

This is how we develop and deliver a project in collaboration with a partner:

A need The need is identified and a project is developed.

Project agreement An agreement is drawn up between Book Aid International and the partner.

Examples of individual Funding projects include: Our in-house fundraisers secure funding for the project. • setting up medical libraries in Regional Referral Hospitals in Uganda with the Baseline World Health Organisation We record in detail the current state of the to improve the quality of library or school before the project starts medical care in hospitals to establish a point from which we can where existing resources are measure change. limited • supporting the education of Project implementation Maa-speaking children from We launch the project and carry out the the Maasai community in agreed activities. Kenya in a project with Africa Educational Trust • supporting Zambia Open Monitoring Community Schools in The partner monitors the project to ensure their work in non-formal it is running to schedule and all aspects of education in remote the agreement are being fulfilled. communities. Final evaluation After the project is implemented, we return to measure and record in detail the changes that have occurred. The future

We have ambitious plans for growing our work and maximising our impact through:

• reaching and supporting more libraries importance of reading and literacy and readers by delivering a greater interventions which provide access to number of books and projects in current books and new countries of operation • creating project sustainability and • building new strategic partnerships with building local capacity through training international, regional and national NGOs initiatives for librarians and teachers working in the field of education and • embracing new developments in literacy the African library services field and • advocating with partners for the seeking innovative ways of building important role that libraries play to digital resources into our projects. support education in Africa and the

Why work with Book Aid International?

We have extensive experience We are committed to quality • We have over 60 years’ experience • Our programmes and training are of working in close partnership with developed by professional librarians library services. and education practitioners in collaboration with our partners to • Our book selection process is overseen ensure they meet our partners’ needs. by staff who have the expertise to identify appropriate books to suit the • We provide only brand new, recently different needs our partners tell us published and high-quality books their readers have. donated by publishers.

We build local capacity For more information, • We work with library services to build please contact us: the capacity of their staff and their E [email protected] services through our librarian training. T +44(0)20 7733 3577 • Our work complements the vision and direction of the African library field. www.bookaid.org