The African Library Project (ALP) is a non-profit organization that starts libraries in rural Africa. U.S. volunteers organize book drives and ship books to a library in Africa. ALP partners with governmental and non-governmental organizations in sub-Saharan Africa. The partners process applications from schools and communities that want libraries, distribute the books, and provide training. Schools and communities that receive books provide the library space and staffing. ALP works in

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

, Lesotho,

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeas ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

, and

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

. ALP is a US 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2005 by Chris Bradshaw. In the first eleven years of operation, ALP started over 1,900 libraries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Methods of operation

ALP volunteers in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

collect used, donated books for later shipment to affiliated libraries in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. The volunteers then sort, pack, and ship the books via sea container, for eventual delivery to a designated African school or community. A typical small library is one thousand (mostly

paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, ...

) books. As of August 2020, the cost of shipping the books to Africa is about $500: $250 in U.S. domestic postage to mail the books to a consolidation point in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, Louisiana, and $250 sent to ALP to defray the costs of

container shipping Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using intermodal containers (also called shipping containers and ISO containers). Containerization is also referred as "Container Stuffing" or "Container Loading", which is the p ...

. ALP partner organizations are large governmental and non-governmental organizations that vet schools and communities that want libraries. When the containers arrive, they contain books for 30-60 libraries. The partners distribute them and also provide training and oversight of the libraries. {, class="wikitable" , +African Library Partnerships !Country !Active Since !Partner Organization(s){{Cite web, last=, first=, date=, title=Our Partners {{! African Library Project, url=https://www.africanlibraryproject.org/our-partners/, url-status=live, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126232255/https://www.africanlibraryproject.org/our-partners/, archive-date=November 26, 2020, access-date=January 21, 2021, website= , - , Botswana , 2006 , Botswana Ministry of Education , - , Ghana , 2001 , Michael Lapsley Foundation , - , Kenya , 2017 , Rongo University, Kibabii University , - , Lesotho , 2004 , US

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F ...

Lesotho, Lesotho Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) , - , Malawi , 2009 , Development Aid from People to People (DAPP Malawi), Wungwero Book Foundation (WBF), Malawi Institute of Education (MIE),

University of Malawi The University of Malawi (UNIMA) is a public university established in 1965 and until 4 May 2021, when the university underwent a delinking, was composed of four constituent colleges located in Zomba, Blantyre, and Lilongwe. Of the four colleges, ...

, - , Sierra Leone , 2013 , Reading Initiative Salone (RISE) Network , - , Uganda , 2019 , Enjuba, Firm Foundation Education Trust (FFET) Teachers and administrators of the target schools are given a manual on managing a library based on one developed by

Voluntary Service Overseas Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) is a not-for-profit international development organization charity with a vision for "a fair world for everyone" and a mission to "create lasting change through volunteering". VSO delivers development impact throug ...

(VSO). Librarians collect data on usage and attend training provided by the partners and ALP. Librarians from all the countries where ALP is working meet at the biannual Library Summit to share best practices. Each library requests the specific types of books they need. In addition to the donated books, ALP purchases supplemental books for the libraries: the Junior African Writers Series (JAWS), HIV/AIDS readers (published by Pearson), and Hesperian Health Guides.

References

External links

African Library Project Home Page
Philanthropic organizations based in the United States Non-profit organizations based in San Francisco Charities based in the United States