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It's a new year and we're eager to continue to grow, but first we want to take a moment to reflect on 2022. Our 2022 accomplishments were made possible because of our amazing community that spans over nine countries: Botswana, Canada, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Uganda, and the United States of America. We are forever grateful to have so many dedication individuals and organizations involved within our community who entrust the African Library Project to thread connections between communities halfway across the world.
Our efforts makes a direct difference to the current educational barriers by bridging the gap in reading materials, namely children's books. Here's a snapshot of our top 5 accomplishments in 2022:
- Hosted two virtual Partner Summits by our Partners in Malawi and Kenya. In attendance were fellow Partners, volunteers, and anyone interested in learning more about our libraries and operations.
- Received a donation of 18,737 HIV, health and science books from Pearson Education Africa, valued over $30,000. These books are all written by South African writers, and set in the southern African context. Sets of these books are prepared and shipped to new libraries.
- Created 214 new small libraries in five of our partnering countries through book drives completed in 2022. We expect to be around 270 when Uganda's container officially ships in the coming weeks.
- ALP held its first in-person Harambee! since 2019.
- We welcomed several new core team members, including four Board Members, a Development Committee member, a Country Liaison for Lesotho, two Container Managers, a Program Manager, and an Interim Executive Director.
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Rather make your mark in 2023 by creating a library? We're ready to create 330 new libraries in all seven of our partnering countries. Sign-ups are currently open for Ghana and Malawi, but not for long as the mailing dates are coming up fast. But we need your help as there are still too many vacancies for both containers. If you or someone you know can ship books by February 15, please sign-up for a Ghana book drive today.
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Highlighting Stories from Library Applications
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Part of our process of creating libraries includes vetting library applications. It's one of the first steps in the process and is managed by the Partners who received the applications. Approved applications are sent to Country Liaisons who collaborate with Container Managers on next steps. A section of the application offers the opportunity to share stories and/or pictures.
Recently, two applications from Uganda caught our eye and we decided to share them our social media channels in order to share what is at stake and how libraries are truly making a difference. Read about these stories on our Facebook by clicking the following links: The Storm Shelter Resource Center and Kachumala Community Library. Both organizations will receive a library in the upcoming Uganda shipment. Please share these stories with someone who you think might like to see how lives can be changed, book by book. |
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Country Liaison Update on Malawi's 14th Container
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Malawi's 14th container was unloaded on December 13 in Blantyre, Malawi. We received several pictures from the Malawi partners documenting the unloading of the 64 libraries (over 70,000 books). The biggest concern during this process was to finish before the downpour of rain — which DID happen, but fortunately after the book boxes were in transport vehicles and/or the partners’ Headquarters. Whew!
Carolyn Gannon
Malawi, Country Liaison
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Some of the Malawi team standing by ready to open the container, sort, and transport to one of the partners’ Headquarters for school distribution.
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Unloading of libraries was featured in weekend edition (Dec. 24) of the Citizens Voices newspaper in Malawi.
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Thank you to everyone involved in making the creation of these 32 new libraries possible. Each library impacts the lives of hundreds of young people who do not already have access to enough books. Soon these new libraries, each containing 1,000 books at the proper reading level, will be accessible to them.
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The 16th container to Botswana left at the end of December and is expected to arrive at the end of March.
The Book Drive mailing date for the 17th container to Botswana is October 1, 2023. Sign-ups to open in June.
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The 12th container to Ghana arrived in late October and has been unloaded. Distribution to libraries will be happening soon. Stay tuned for next month's newsletter for an update.
Help us reach 650 libraries in Ghana in 2023! The Book Drive mailing is February 15, 2023. Sign-up today!
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Kenyan Partners, Rongo University and Kibabii University, conducted teacher-librarian training promptly after the 5th container's arrival. Following, library recipients received their books.
The Book Drive mailing date for the 6th container is September 1, 2023. Sign-ups to open in June.
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The 14th container for Lesotho has left port in the US, its expected arrival is sometime in January 2023.
The Book Drive mailing date for the 15th container to Lesotho is May 1, 2023. Sign-ups to open in February.
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The 14th container to Malawi was unloaded by partners and colleagues. See pictures here.
The Book Drive mailing date for the 15th container to Malawi is March 15, 2023. Sign-up today!
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Unfortunately, we were unable to ship a container to South Africa this year. There were a few factors that lead to the decision.
The Book Drive mailing date for the 3rd container to South Africa is June 1, 2023. Sign-ups to open in March.
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Boxes are arriving at our shipper's warehouse. Stay tuned for when we announce that the container has boarded a vessel for its voyage across the Atlantic.
The Book Drive mailing date for the 3rd container to South Africa is June 1, 2023. Sign-ups to open in March.
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*Requires Book Drive Code, for general donations click here.
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Book Drive Organizer Spotlights
We've been highlighting Book Drive Organizers on our blog and social media accounts. Visit our blog to read testimonials from our latest Book Drive Organizer spotlights.
Interested in being featured in as our next Book Drive Organizer Spotlight? Contact your Container Manager or email us at marketing@africanlibraryproject.org for more information.
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Thank you for spending time catching up with African Library Project. We are so lucky to have individuals like you who take interest in the work we're doing together to nurture literacy. Please connect with us on social media and visit the ALP website for more.
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