The stacks of libraries across Kenya will soon be a little thicker, thanks to a collaboration between a U.S.-based university and two nonprofit organizations to send 50,000 books to the East African country.
Little Free Library and Books For Africa, two nonprofits based in Minnesota, collaborated with students and faculty at San José State University (SJSU) in California to send children’s books to the Kenyan National Library Service (KNLS), a government agency that runs public libraries. Some of the books from the initiative known as “Soma Safari” (Kiswahili for “Reading Adventure”), will be distributed to free book-sharing boxes known as “little free libraries,” which are led by volunteers.
“I can tell you that Africa needs more books, and you’ll hear more about that from other speakers here,” said Patrick Plonski, the executive director of Books For Africa. “Every day in our office, more requests for more books come in.”
Plonski said that Books For Africa, which sends books to every country in Africa, was on target to ship 3 million books, 457,000 digital books, and in collaboration with Thomson Reuters, 15 law libraries to 37 countries in the continent in 2025. In addition to shipping books from its warehouse in Atlanta, the organization would also ship out of partner warehouses located in London, Paris, Montreal, New York, San Francisco, and Dubai, Plonski said. Books For Africa will also collaborate with Ethiopian Airlines to ship books to Ethiopia from Seattle this year when Boeing delivers the airline’s new aircraft orders, he said.
“Today is all about Kenya,” Plonski said. “I’m pleased to report that Kenya is the number one country served by Books For Africa in our 37-year history, [with] 7 million books shipped.”
Plonski said Kenya had been the leading country in the number of books sent to Africa in the last three years, with more than 370,000 shipped last year. He said Kenya was going to be number one again in 2025. Plonski was quick to point out that it was not his or the board’s decision to make Kenya the top destination for books. He attributed it to the ability of Kenyans, both here in the United States and back home, to mobilize book donations.
“Some of you representing other countries, you also can push your country to the top,” he said.
Students and faculty at the SJSU School of Information helped organize the shipment of the 50,000 books going to Kenya. They also raised money and coordinated with the KNLS to organize the distribution of the books.
“The Soma Safari project exemplifies our mission to promote global literacy and equitable access to information—helping build stronger communities, one book at a time,” said Dr. Anthony Chow, the director of SJSU School of Information.
Books For Africa had collected the books and was helping to organize the shipment, Plonski said. Thomson Reuters, which sponsored the event in Roseville, also provided funds for the shipment and donated one reference law library.
The event was attended by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, several government officials and elected leaders from the African immigrant community, including Huldah Momanyi Hiltsley, a member of Minnesota House of Representatives, who is originally from Kenya. Ellison said there were numerous ways people could engage in charitable work, but donating books was “a righteous good.”
“What could be better than giving people tools for their own liberation, for their own strength?” Ellison asked. “It might make you feel good to give somebody something, but to give somebody something that’s going to actually help them help themselves and create their own lives, well, that’s a book. That’s knowledge. That’s information, and it’s righteous.”
Ellison said that he had been a longtime partner of Books For Africa. He remembered flying to Nairobi with the organization and travelling for several hours by road to deliver books.
“When those books arrive, those very smart, those brilliant young minds, hungry for information gobble those books up,” he said. “They need more books now, you know, because they’ve read all the old ones. They’re so smart, and they’re so eager and all they need is opportunity and somebody who cares, and that’s us.”
Kenya’s Ambassador to the United States David Kerich said there were already six containers of books enroute to Kenya. He promised that the government would do everything possible to ensure that Kenya remained the top destination of books donated through Books For Africa. The government would do so by streamlining and speeding up the process of receiving shipments so that the donated books arrive to those they were intended for in a timely manner.
“So, my other brothers from other countries, you guys will have to wait for a while,” he joked. “Kenya will continue to be number one.”
Authors
About Richard Ooga, Mshale PhotoJournalist
Richard Ooga is Mshale Newspaper's chief photographer.
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading...
