African Library Project is an incredible nonprofit. My friends and I worked together to collect over 2000 for libraries in Botswana and Sierra Leone. It was a fun project for a great cause. The ALP coordinators were very helpful and easy to work with and we were surprised with a heartfelt video from the students in Botswana who received our library. Working with ALP was truly one of the most meaningful and enjoyable service activities I have every done. I highly recommend it to anyone.
What a fabulous organization - and a perfect way to "think globally and act locally." Its volunteers have created over 3,000 libraries stocked with over 3 million books. "All it takes to create a single library for students in need is 1000 gently used children’s books and $500 toward shipping."
The website guides volunteers through the four steps: starting a book drive, sorting the books by age, packing the books for transport, and shipping the books to New Orleans (the point of departure to Africa)!
I'm a donor and volunteer and plan to help create many more African libraries.
I had wonderful fun reading books and choosing the best ones to send to Uganda, Africa. Uganda is not traditionally a literate society, they are oral story tellers and there have been few libraries for people to explore. African Library Project works with partners in underserved African countries to place libraries. In the United States, people get to run book drives to build book collections to send to libraries that want to start. I have worked with places in Uganda . The books arrived in Uganda during the pandemic, so it has been difficult for the libraries to start up. I just received photographs of parents and children exploring books at St. Phillips Church in Dandira, Mukono Uganda. (Notice the chairs stacked away. They cannot sit in yet due to Lockdown.)
Literacy, books, and reading are particularly important to me as I was born and brought up in Africa where I learned half the things I know through books. Now a grad student at Stanford, I understand the importance of the exposure that books can provide to avid readers and I just wish everyone would have the opportunity I had. This is why the African Library Project (ALP) and the work that ALP does are so personal to me.
I am always happy to volunteer with ALP in any capacity and I hope to one day organize a book drive myself.
Thank you.
My daughter, Aneri and I created our first African Library in Lesotho in 2019. Can’t thank the organization enough to be able to run the transactions smoothly. People who workS for ALP non-profit organization are passionated and humble and eager to help.
Being an avid reader, my daughter could related to the cause. I think ALP has created an impact on my daughter that will stay with for her whole life. My daughter is super excited about being able to spread the joy of books to others. She has registered for another library with her Girl Scout troop. This is a great community / service project for anyone.
Recommend it to everyone to help out in any way or means they can. ALP is making a difference....
I have organized three libraries for African Library Project, and have to tell you those days enriched my life, broadened my horizons, and left me with the knowledge that I changed the world, even if just a tiny bit. African Library Project's instructions on their site are easy to follow, they give plenty of time to collect 1,000+ books, and I met amazing people along the way who wanted to help raise money and find great books. Each of my libraries (Lesotho, Ghana, and South Africa) was unique, in that the recipients' needs and wishes for their libraries were different; one wanted lots of non-fiction, one wanted teaching materials, one wanted an emphasis on young adult books. They were all truly rewarding experiences, and I highly recommend volunteering for this marvelous nonprofit organization. You will find them responsive to any questions you have along the way, enthusiastic about your contribution, and grateful for your work.
I'm a 16 year old who wanted to help set up a library in Africa and ALP made it super easy to do so! Their website has extremely detailed steps for the book drive and shipping process. Additionally, the book drive coordinators are very helpful and will respond to any question or concern you have, no matter how big or small. Working with ALP was hassle-free and made the experience very enjoyable!
For several years, I found myself in a strange position of declining boxes of children’s books because I didn’t have room. I’m not one to turn away great kids books because I am a teacher and have three kids of my own, but books take up space and you can’t take what you can’t store. I later learned about the African Library Project at a college alumni event. This organization helps people send used children’s books to African countries to start community libraries. From here I put out the word that I was collecting used kids books to start a library in Ghana, and the books came. My 13-year-old son had plenty of friends who needed to unload their old children’s books. Most were already packed up and stored in their garages. My 6-year-old daughter and I raised money to ship the books by delivering Valentines Day Grams in our neighborhood. By the end of February the project was complete. This organization helps families unload their treasured, but space consuming, literature to start libraries for kids in need. The African Library Project is a win-win for everybody!
The African Library Project has a win-win partnership model for enabling literacy in Anglophone African countries: ALP's African partners reach out to and vet schools in their countries with few or no English books, and ALP's US volunteers are paired with those schools to collect 1,000 gently used books especially suited for those schools and raise about $500 to ship them via ALP's efficient, shipping container method. Each ALP African partner trains teachers in those schools to be librarians, and the result is increased literacy and a love of reading by the students, teachers and communities. This model produces US volunteers who repeatedly sign up to be matched with ALP schools/communities to collect and ship books--and even thank ALP for the satisfaction and opportunity of giving books a second life where they will be prized and read again.
I feel honored to feel a close bond with ALP's African partners. As an ALP volunteer, ALP Malawi liaison, former board member, 5-time ALP African Partner Summit participant, and frequent contributor to ALP book drives, I am honored to contribute time and funds to ALP's mission of hanging lives book by book in rural Africa. ALP is a very worthy non-profit!
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The African Library Project has a unique and tremendously effective relationship with African partners in six (and counting!) countries. It is this partnership, along with model of organizing book drives in the U.S. to supply beautiful, gently used books to rural schools and communities in Africa that led me to be on the ALP board for six years and continue involvement as a volunteer and donor. Can you imagine an all-volunteer organization that can establish over 1,000 libraries in just seven years -- with lots of book-drive organizers thanking ALP for the privilege of collecting books and funds for shipping them? And wanting to do another book drive? This happens often because the process is fun and rewarding, and it works.
ALP's African partners are dedicated in receiving the book shipping containers, delivering them to the new school and community libraries, training the teacher-librarians, and following up. I have visited dozens of the libraries with ALP-donated books and seen the pleasure and learning the books bring to African children and adults.
I am a board member of African Library Project, as well as an active volunteer and book drive organizer. I love African Library Project because it is a very lean, mission driven, and welcoming organization. African Library Project has started/improved 2,541 libraries in sub-Saharan African using over 2.5 million gently used books. By doing this, students in African have access to reading material and can make strides towards improved literacy, and book drive organizers of all ages in the United States now have an increased understanding of another part of the world, and the satisfaction of putting books into the hands of others, while keeping books out of landfills. Doing a book drive is a great activity for individuals, organizations, clubs, families, etc!
The African Library Project is an amazing organization. I have witnessed in person how creating small libraries helps to improve children's literacy and encourages a love of reading. And the people involved in ALP on both continents are impressive and inspiring: both the dedicated American and Canadian staff and volunteers and the capable and driven African partners. I am delighted to be a part of this exceptional nonprofit.
What a wonderful way to help....taking our books and sending to schools in Africa with no books. I have been involved with the creation of several libraries with our Girl Scouts, local community, family and friends. ALP is one of the BEST hands-on experiences you will ever have!
This is a fantastic organization that attracts fantastic people. The board, the partners, and especially the volunteers are extremely engaged and passionate about the important work of supporting literacy while educating communities in the US and Canada about Sub Saharan Africa. Despite inherent challenges in access, the organization does a great job of closing the loop with book drive organizers and volunteers, so they can really see the impact that their donations and effort has on children and communities so many thousands of miles away. I highly encourage anyone interested in global literacy to get involved!
I have been volunteering with this organization for over a year now. This is an amazing organization sending gently used books to African schools to set up libraries in schools that have no library. The people at the organization are dedicated, kind and passionate about their work and the donors who work toward collecting books and sending them to be shipped to Africa are as passionate about providing kids and teens with books in their schools as the people at the helm of this organization. Then there are the schools who are applying to get a library set up for their students. When I see that they are trying to set up clean, safe and accessible rooms in the schools for kids to read these books, I realize what a treasure it is to have access to books or learn to enjoy reading and how life changing it is for them all.
Pls consider organizing a book drive and give the gift of reading.
My daughter has completed 6 book drives with this wonderful organization, and the experience was a hugely positive learning experience for her. Throughout the process she was supported fully by the wonderful staff, who made sure she was successful, and encouraged her along the way. She felt connected to the communities she was helping, due the structure of the process, and felt great satisfaction and joy as a result. Due to her involvement, I have now become a volunteer with African Library Project, and feel very proud to be part of the team. I have seen first hand that an immense amount of thought goes into all stages of the process of matching book drives with libraries in Africa. This attention to detail and dedication not only changes the lives of the children and community members that receive the books, but also inspires the book drive organizers, giving them an insight into a different world, and how they have the power to make a change. The potency of this feeling cannot be underestimated.
We can never thank African Library Project enough. ALP has been an oasis of library resource in our primary, secondary and community libraries in Malawi through its yearly donations. The Ministry of Education does not have school libraries as one of its core responsibilities such that individual schools have to make their individual efforts to have a functional school library. This means most of the libraries in Malawi are run by non professional personnel. Yet the Malawi Library Association has been running a certificate course in Library and Information Science since the 1976. In addition Mzuzu University is producing librarians at bachelors and masters level. These end up doing teaching jobs because the Ministry has no policy to employ them.
ALP Partners in Malawi are complimenting governments efforts by doing the following: distribute and vet application forms, submit applications to ALP on behalf of applicants, track shipped container, and arrange for offloading, ensure that books reach beneficiaries, assess performance of libraries and above all train teacher librarians. Through these short course training teacher librarians are equipped with basic skills in librarianship. This is a huge boost to education in Malawi.
The ALP do not only donate libraries to schools in Malawi they also hold biannual summits in various African countries where partners from across the world meet and share their rich experiences. This accords partners a platform to learn, be motivated, get inspired, inspire others and belong to this warm big family of people that have this burning desire to do more to the information hungry people in their respective countries.
Chancellor College Library we will continue to work with ALP until each and very school in Malawi has a functional library. In addition we will also work to influence government to consider a change in policy with regard to school libraries.
On a personal level I feel deeply humbled and lucky to be associated with ALP.
We absolutely love the African Library Project (ALP)!
Our organization, Leading Through Living, has worked with ALP for almost two years and has established 5 libraries in Kenya (2), Swaziland, Ghana, and Botswana. It is an empowering process that allows us to work with community partners such as Churches and schools to expand literacy across the globe, and to educate groups on other countries and cultures.
The process is so easy and the support amazing. We are working on our sixth library this fall and plan to keep going. Our pledge is that as long as the books continue to come then we will continue to fundraise. And it works!
It is easy to understand the gift a library is for children who lack access to books. It is not as obvious to recognize the benefit to the volunteer who collects and ships the books. I have discovered that anomously helping make the world a better place by improving poor children's chance of success brings me great joy and satisfaction. With little effort one person can make a difference.
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I have never been able to have the direct, positive impact on others that I have experienced with the African Library Project. Being able to create school libraries, where there are none, and, thereby, improve the standard of living and quality of life of children has been extremely rewarding for me. We can personally make the world a better place. Additionally, all the staff for the African Library Project is volunteers. So any funds raised go directly to creating libraries and helping children.
ALP does amazing work in the Sub Saharan African that they work with! I have seen this myself in Lesotho! All and all, ALP is a fantastic organization in the states and abroad.
I have witnessed and experienced what it is like to be a part of the African Library Project in both the USA and in Africa. Organizing book drives and packing the books to be sent to countries in Africa is super easy and super fun. Then seeing kids in Africa who have never had books receive them, read them and learn from them is truly priceless. This is a non-profit that really changes lives, book by book!
The African Library Project (ALP) does an amazing job of connecting book drives in the United States with libraries in schools and villages in Africa. I learned about the project as it was starting up and over the years it amazes me that their considered and committed approach has resulted in over 2 million books sent to two thousand African libraries!
I very much admire the way in which anyone - an individual, a school group, an organization - can decide to collect books and money, and know when and where their contribution will go. I am an avid reader and know first-hand that libraries can be the lifeblood of schools and communities.
Two thumbs up and five stars!
I have been volunteering for African Library Project now for a year. It is a fantastic organization that provides libraries to schools in Africa which don't have many books. I love working with the people who sign up to gather 1000 books and $500. They often are surprised at the outpouring of support in their communities for their book drives and are able to provide two libraries. It's great to see a plethora of cast off used children's books end up in the hands of kids who really need them. It is refreshing to be able to use my time and skills to help with literacy instead of only writing a check.
I have found those who run this Organization extremely dedicated. It is their passion to get books in the hands of thes kids who otherwise will not have access to these books.
I have done two libraries with African Library Project through my church. Through African Library Project we are able to bring literacy to children in rural Malawi.
Everyone I've told about the African Library Project (ALP) who has become a book-drive organizer (collected 1,000 gently used children's books and raised $500 for shipping them) has actually thanked ME for the opportunity (through ALP) to help start a school library in Africa. ALP has incredible impact, which I've seen myself as a visitor to dozens of the schools where the libraries have been established. The "partnership" strategy between African education organizations and ALP's American volunteers means that all work together to accomplish the goal of improving literacy and the joy of reading.
They do great work connecting book drives in America with school libraries in Africa! What a great cause.
My daughter and I have run three book drives through the African Library Project, in addition to contributing to many other book drives over the years run by various schools in our area. I was so pleased to find a really concrete way to make a positive impact on the lives of people living halfway around the world.
As a teacher, I understand how absolutely critical it is to have access to books - without them it is nearly impossible to teach literacy skills, history, science, or an understanding of how other people live in other parts of the world. As a parent, I appreciated this opportunity to reinforce for my child the importance of education while experiencing the joy that comes from helping others.
If you are looking for a great service project for your kids, school, or community, ALP should be on your radar. ALP enables volunteers to make a life changing impact on children and communities in rural Africa. You will know exactly which country and community in Africa the books you collect will be going to. This is a project everyone can relate to no matter your age because everyone loves books and understands the power of literacy.
The African Library Project is a great non profit! Almost entirely volunteer based,
it makes a huge impact on parts of rural Africa with a very low-overhead.
Great leadership and a great team. It has been a pleasure working with them.
Elaine S. Wiener
Gifted Education Communicator
Journal for the California Association for the Gifted
17elaine@att.net
When a good friend got involved with the African Library Project, I jumped right on the band wagon! I am involved with other nonprofits, but I found that this project is outstanding in every way. They are always willing to answer questions and communicate the necessary information. This made collecting and shipping the books much easier. The African Library Projects not only helps students in the school involved, but also is a positive experience for all involved.
African Library project is providing outstanding service to rise the world literacy. My son did book drives for this and sent books to start library in Africa. We are humbled to know that used children’s books that we collect here make a huge difference in kids’ education in Africa. The staff at African library project are awesome, they supported my son during his book drives with timely guidance.
Fantastic organization doing fantastic work. The leadership is some of the strongest I've seen, the attention to fiscal responsibility is so high, the passion and love for the work is terrific. Perhaps most impressive is the partnerships with African organizations who will always have a deeper understanding of how to operate within their own countries than foreigners will. The organization shows deep understanding for how things are done in other countries, and deep respect.
ALP is an awesome organization -- great cause, dedicated team, organized and a well informed working team. We have completed two library drives and currently in progress with the third. ALP team was always on time, directing us with instructions to collect, label and ship. We will be doing more book drives with ALP!
ALP is a very worthy program and the members were very easy to work with. It is great knowing that we helped build libraries in Africa and as a result children are learning to read.
My daughter and I are involved in volunteering African Library Project! ALP is one of the greatest organization to work with. We have completed 3 book drives and 4th is going on. We couldn't have achieved this without ALP volunteers, they are very professional and exceptional. I have had an wonderful experience with ALP. Kudos to ALP founder and organization!
The African Library Project is one of the most encouraging nonprofit organizations for people of all ages. They help and support education for kids in need. Volunteering with this organization is very eye opening and life changing. Every book makes a difference so please save and donate them!
If you are passionate about volunteering for literacy, and if you really want to make a difference in the life of children in some of the poorest countries in the world, ALP should be on the top of your list of volunteering organizations to contribute your time/money/skills.
I just recently started a book drive and thoroughly enjoying it!
ALP is an amazing organization dedicated to helping people across the globe. The people who run the organization are very efficient, responsive, and hardworking. My project went very well and I was able to help out a community on the other side of the world!
The African Library Project is one of the greatest non-profits I have ever dealt with! They are providing an easy way for the general public to get involved in creating libraries in African schools that have very few resources, thus enabling underserved students access to reading materials. The leadership of this organization is involved, caring, attentive to details, and helpful in every way possible! No question is too insignificant and all staff are readily available via email or phone. I feel a sense of true joy when interacting with any member of the staff and know they all are truly dedicated to serving students in Africa. Create a library in an African School today - all it takes is 1000 books, $500 and a little bit of hard work! You'll never regret your decision!
If I could give this organization a six star rating I would do so. Allow me to share my reasons as to why.
When I was a little kid, I used to have a lot of questions. I used to wonder why I had to go to church on Sundays ,used to wonder why I had to die to go to heaven. But above all, I used to wonder why I had to go to school. So, I decided to go back into the past to look for answers. And as I paged through history yesterday, I came across a lot of events. I went to the '60s, when John Kennedy told America 'our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. It is the chief cornerstone of our existence and the foundation of our success.' But I did not stop there. I went again to a time when Nelson Mandela told South Africa, 'education is the most powerful tool one can use to change the world'. Odd enough, I did not stop there. I went back again to a time when Martin Luther King Jr told the youngsters of America ,'education is not merely an asset of privilege for an exclusive few. Rather, it is a tool to be used for paving the way towards success.'
Instantly, I knew I was answered. I immediately knew the role of education in my life. Its a pity some people never see its importance but I do hope they will someday see the light. It is also exceedingly joyful to see determined people like the African Library Project team striving to illuminate such people. They changing millions of lives with their work. I am proud to say I am their product and I would like to take this time to thank them. With their dedication and perseverance I believe we will bee able to restore many dreams a bring back the lost. And in a not so distant future we will be able to proudly say
Out from a gloomy past
Till now we stand at last
Where the bright gleam of our star
Is cast
A BIG thank you to the African Library Project!!
ALP is the perfect service project for children of all ages or school groups. ALP's model makes the goal of collecting 1000 gently used books and raising $500 for shipping very attainable. In a manner of minutes, you can set up a professional looking website that gives instant credibility to your book drive. You have use of ALPs logos, photos, and relavent facts about the African countries ALP works in. The experience is made all that much more rewarding to be connected directly with the community that you will be sending books to. You have the opportunity to send notes and pictures along with the books. I did a book drive with my kids (7 & 4ys old) this past spring. We plan to make this an annual project.
I have had a wonderful and exceptional experience working with ALP. They have a unique, streamlined process that is distinct and powerful in the aid world. With ALP, you are put in touch with the needs of a unique school, rather than a Westerner's idea about what a rural school in far away 'Africa' might need. In my case, a couple of friends and I collected books tailored to the needs of Good Shepherd High School in Siteki, Swaziland. The school had asked specifically for books that would cater to its community library, which had mostly young readers. They also asked for schools that would open up the minds of young Swazis to technology. That is exactly what we tried to fulfill.
On the tail end of the process, it is the receiver that has to pay for bringing the books from the port to the schools. This idea is embedded in the philosophy that the receivers have to take ownership of the books. Furthermore, the ALP board makes an effort to use their own personal funds to go to different countries on the African continent and see if the books are taken care of. All this is pretty much unheard in the development industry, where expensive 'experts' fly first class on aid money and live lavishly in the developing world (see William Easterly's White Man's Burder and Deborah Brautigam's The Dragon's Gift).
So to ALP, here is a well-deserved and overdue 5-star ranking from a kid who grew up reading your books back in Swaziland.
We are happy to be donors for this nonprofit organization, and have watched it grow since the idea was conceived. I get goose bumps to picture all the books being shipped to Africa, and the hope and learning they bring to these communities. It is truly a simple concept to share the joy of reading, and yet takes much work to deliver. Another great bonus is that a small group of people; families, schools, etc., can collect 1,000 used paperbacks, and start a library so very far away. It's magical!
African Library Project is a great organisation that provides some amazing resources to communities which normally will not have the opportunity to receive them. I was involved with helping a school in Sierra Leone set up a library using books from ALP. The students, teachers, and families were thrilled to see so many books! As a teacher at the school and librarian, I saw the library and books be used daily by students and teachers alike. ALP provides wonderful training for new librarians and a how to guide on setting up a library. Again, great organisation with everlasting benefits to the communities they help!
I participated as a book packer when ALP was in its infancy and have been thrilled to see the organization start over 1600 libraries in the 10 years of its existence. I am now proud to be a donor and contribute to the growing literacy in Africa, which will result in people achieving better lives for their future and the future of their families.
Mountain View High School has been involved with the African Library Project soon after its inception. For the past 8 years, the Leo Club, which is a student led service club supported by the Sunnyvale Host Lions Club has donated a library to a school in Africa. Each year students are motivated to raise all $600 of the funds for shipping the 1,000 books they annually collect to be sent to a school in Africa so the children there have the gift to read. The students altruistically jump at the opportunity to participate in this worth while project and seek out opportunities to work together in the local community to earn the funds and collect gently used children's books. It's a project which takes months of work to help materialize, but the joy in watching students bond as they serve in the local and international communities to make this happen is rewarding beyond words.
Holding a book drive at the elementary school where I am a teacher was one of the most fulfilling experiences of my teaching career. I saw how the students grew excited to share resources with other students who live far away and, just like them, are eager to learn and grow. ALP gave me clear guidelines for book donations and how to package the boxes that would travel to our partner school. On the ALP website, there are several examples of ways to raise the money for the shipping costs. Thank you ALP for all your efforts to support and encourage literacy.
I strongly recommend ALP. As an all-volunteer organization they provide individuals, groups and communities a meaningful way to promote literacy in Africa. Their well established formula (1000 books + $500 = 1 library ) made it easy to participate in a book drive and was a tangible project for our students to focus on. It's a win-win situation!!
The African Library Project is the best kind of LITERACY charity because it brings people together! People in the US get to share the books they love with readers in countries that do not have Amazon Prime, Google Express or even a public library to use on a whim. In a context in which fast and free is replaced by slow connections and scarcity of resources, the bricks and mortar collections that volunteers from the US and in Sub-Saharan Africa make into libraries are the best kinds of learning resources to build together. ALP makes this happen a little bit at a time with connections from community-->community.
I've been a volunteer for ALP since 2005 (former board member), and as a librarian who has worked in Sub-Saharan Africa and the US, I am critical when it comes to doing book aid responsibly. ALP does book aid right by doing library aid! While responding to the real need for books, ALP also...
- Brings African professionals together in a Summit every two years
- Fosters community among the recipient communities in each large shipment of books
- Provides practical manuals to train rookie librarians in the field.
If LITERACY is your passion, African Library Project could be a great match for you. Try starting with some books, some cash and some elbow grease...
I've done two book drives with African Library Project and and they make the process very easy and provided help whenever needed. It's an amazing feeling to know that I am now connected to two schools that needed books. This is the kind of project that people love to help with and it was surprisingly easy to make the targets. I plan to do more book drives in the future!
We collected books for Engudumeni Primary School in South Africa, where our son is serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer. The work was highly personal and very rewarding. The tools and support provided by ALP made what could have been an overwhelming experience, achievable. There is no way we could have figured out how to collect, sort and ship 1200 quality books without their guidance and partnership. Thank you!!! We are grateful to be able to provide books and materials that will enrich the students, teachers, and community, while our son is serving, and leave a lasting legacy for years.
The African Library Project has been the most meaningful non-profit I have had the pleasure to be involved with. The organzation truly makes a difference in the countries it serves. Delivery books to young people in places where there books are not easily available. I have seen, first hand, these libraries and they are being used by so many that have not had the priviledge to have books before. A life changing experience for so many.
I was a coordinator for an African Library Project early in 2015. I was a little intimidated and as I recruited organizations and people to help me I thought I would ask someone else to set up the website page for our project. But I went onto the African Library Project website, and I could not believe how well organized it was. There were lots of resources to use to help market the book drive. Setting up the website page for our project was very easy! The transportation coordinators who emailed me frequently were always ready to answer my many questions. With the ALP's help it was so easy to collect books, Our project collected over 4000 books. We ended up helping 3 different schools in South Africa and 1 in Malawi. This was one of the most gratifying projects that I have ever had the privilege to be a part of. African Library Project is a GREAT Nonprofit!
I found out about the ALP through a friend of mine and decided to start my own drive. It was very easy and everyone was helpful. People are eager to help and volunteer in many ways. I wish more people found the time to donate books, time, services and money to such a worthy cause.
I became aware of the African Library Project about a year ago. As I have learned more about the organization and have gotten to know the founder Chris Bradshaw, ALP volunteers and board members, my respect and admiration have grown immensely for the important work this non-profit is accomplishing. I recently donated an item for their biennial fundraiser, Harambee, which I attended with a small group of friends. It was a party not to be forgotten with African food, dance and music, pulled together by an enormous team of volunteers! I can hardly wait for the next, however, that is not the most important part. What struck me most was how Chris and ALP are able to mobilize forces to accomplish their goals. They are a passionate group and have started over 1,411 libraries with over 1.5 million books. Wow! The collaborative efforts and sheer determination of this grass roots effort is moving and they are truly making a difference, one library at a time. I look forward to seeing their continued success.
- Barbara Hugli-Jones
Our middle school library has been involved with the African Library Project for 9 years. This is my third year helping with the annual book drive. The organization is great because it provides plenty of information on what kind of school you are helping and supports us throughout our book drive. The website provides flyers, photos, fact sheets on African countries, and examples of presentations to advertise your book drive. African Library Project works because it is focused on building libraries and training teacher librarians. They are well organized and make helping easy. Chris Bradshaw has always been available to talk to and is ALWAYS enthusiastic about what she is doing. She inspires me to want to do all that I can to get the kids in Africa to read, to learn, and to grow.
Our experience with ALP has been great on so many levels. First, the projects provide real, tangible results. We're paired with a specific school in a specific country, which really motivates donors to get involved.
Second, ALP provides so many resources and support mechanisms, it feels easy to get things up and running and to know what to do at each step. The organization is clearly well run, and the loyalty of their staff and volunteers really adds to the credibility of our project.
Finally, our ALP project has provided so many learning opportunities for my kids. We've done research on the country we're sending the books to, have planned logistics like storing and packing boxes of books, and did lots of creative work making flyers, videos, and our website to market the project.
All of these things combined have made this an experience we would highly recommend and do again in the future!
The African Library Project is an extremely well-run organization that provides an avenue for our secondary school students to engage in philanthropy on a global level. Participating in the ALP helps to create a culture of compassion and encourages students to think about how they can make a difference in the world.
I highly recommend this nonprofit!
Our middle school has been involved with the African Library Project for eight years, and we have started thirteen libraries. What's great about ALP is that the model is really easy to implement. Not only is it a truly rewarding cause, but all participants benefit greatly from the experience. It's been a great way to develop a community of service-learners at our school site. Many teachers, students and parents get involved in the collection of books, and historically we have covered the shipping costs by holding a student-run garage sale. We love this organization and will vigorously continue our support!
I am a book drive organizer for the African Library Project. ALP partners me with communities or schools that really wants the books we are collecting. This is a win-win volunteer project. You can save books from going into landfills here at home (yes our culture throws away good stuff) and give those books a new life where they will really be valued.
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Our middle school has been associated with the ALP for a few years now. Last year was the 5th school that we helped get their own library. Our students see this as an opportunity to serve others. They willingly donate books that they have outgrown, count them, sort them and package them. They also raise the funds needed for shipping.
The African Library Project has a great organization, with helpful staff. Everything is completely explained up-front AND they also provide the opportunity to personalize their website so that we can advertise our book drive and show our progress. Our students also like knowing where the books are going and what school and grade levels they serve.
This is a great way to connect students to the world and to serve others. It also helps them to feel a part of something bigger than themselves. We are happy to be a part of such a wonderful organization
For several years my family has been collecting gently used children's books to support the African Library Project (ALP). I love how easy it is to connect with local groups doing book drives and how accessible the ALP staff are. This model of giving is so simple and the impact is so powerful! It's a great way for young children in America to learn about the power and importance of giving and helping others less fortunate.
I joined the African Library Project after a bicycle trip in South Africa, which made very visible the need for books and educational materials, particularly in rural areas. This nonprofit is a win-win for everyone -- African schools get books and training for librarians to sustain the libraries, U.S. volunteers get to learn about African countries, while they are recycling used children's books that otherwise would likely end up in a landfill. It's one of the few organizations which has a role for young people in the philanthropic efforts. It's a simple idea that works and changes lives one book at a time.
ALPer 05/17/2014
Thanks, Christine!!!
We were so successful in our fund-raising efforts for the library books we shipped to Ghana this year that we have excess funds we would like to donate to your organization. It has been such a pleasure to work with the African Library Project, the whole process is so organized and the results gratifying. Keep up the good work!
ALPer 09/25/2012
Gee, thanks, Coy! You have been as big a gift to ALP as we have been to you. May we create many more beautiful African libraries together.