Media & Press

The Star Tribune

Books for Africa, progress for Ghana (View Article)
January 14, 2012
By: Neal St. Anthony

This month St. Paul-based Books for Africa will ship $1 million worth of books, nearly 90,000 titles, to Ghana in West Africa, courtesy of Cargill Inc., which built a $100 million cocoa bean-processing plant in Ghana in 2008. The ag-related giant employs 4,000 in nine African countries including Ghana and Ivory Coast. Patrick Plonski is CEO of 23-year-old Books for Africa, founded by retired St. Paul publisher Tom Warth. Kojo Amoo-Gottfried is Cargill's managing director in Ghana. They participated in a recent forum at the University of Minnesota on doing business in Africa.

Q:Patrick, why are Books for Africa and Cargill sending five, 40-foot ocean containers to Ghanian schools and libraries?

Plonski:Ghana is the No. 1 recipient for our organization. It makes good development sense because economic literacy makes sense. You can't provide education without books, and there is a huge shortage in Africa. From Cargill's perspective, it helps to build an educated workforce and sends a strong message that Cargill is not only interested in making money but in helping to develop the country. Books are tangible, they are appreciated and they can be passed around. They looked at our inventory sheet and told us what they want. School books and library books, some university books and one law library provided by Thomson Reuters.
Read more>>

Minnesota Public Radio

In Libya and elsewhere, the best hope lies in literacy (View Article)
September 23, 2011
By Kofi Annan and Walter Mondale

St. Paul, Minn. — After the recent armed conflict in Libya, people there will be working hard to replace 40 years of authoritarian rule with a new democratic system of governance. It will not be an easy task, but one worth the effort and one that will need the continued support of partners from the international community.

History shows such progressive movements, whether against colonial masters or repressive regimes, are no guarantee of embedding democracy. As young men, we saw a similar wave of change sweep through Africa in the wake of the independence movements half a century ago. Like now, hopes were high both in the countries themselves and among those who wished the new states well. These hopes were by no means always fulfilled.

There are many reasons for these setbacks, including ethnic and religious divisions and corroding corruption. But while the causes of democratic failure are varied, there are two ingredients common to success: a determination to educate a country's citizens and a commitment to the rule of law.
Read more>>

 

The Star Tribune

St. Paul book donations to Africa top 25 million: 
Nonprofit supplier Books for Africa celebrates the milestone and seeks help at its St. Paul warehouse (View Article)
September 8, 2011

In 1988, Tom Warth set out to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, but stumbled upon a much loftier goal -- ending what he calls Africa's "book famine."

Warth, of Marine on St. Croix, had just sold his book business and was traveling the world. He ended up at a public library in Uganda, where he saw a librarian, children and virtually no books.

Back in Minnesota, he collected surplus textbooks and sent them to that library in Uganda.

It was the start of Books for Africa, a nonprofit organization based in St. Paul that has shipped millions of books to 46 African countries.

The official number of donated books topped 25 million recently. So on Thursday, Books for Africa celebrated that milestone and International Literacy Day by calling for volunteers to sort and pack books at its St. Paul warehouse. The festivities continue next weekend with a South African-style barbecue at the warehouse, open to the public.
Read more>>

 

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Volunteers Sort and Pack Books For Africa (View Article)
August 22, 2011

A trip to Uganda left Thomas Warth with an urge to do something about the empty library buildings. Due to the lack of books in Africa and his effort to give back, Warth founded Books For Africa in 1988 as a way to fill the appointed buildings with the power of the written word. Today, the Minnesota-based nonprofit, with its two warehouses based in Smyrna, has become the world’s largest shipper of books to Africa.

Last Saturday, 40 volunteers came to the organization’s 25,000-square-foot warehouse in Smyrna to sort, organize and pack donated books that will be shipped to various schools in Africa. Books are received from publishing partners, schools and libraries.

“In Africa, there is one book for every 100 students,” said Ron Woods, Director of Development and Community Relations-Atlanta. “So for a child seeing trucks coming to deliver books is the same as our experience on Christmas morning. They really look forward to this.” Books range from kindergarten/preschool material to filling law libraries, which Books for Africa helped open due to donations.
Read more>>

 

Minnesota Public Radio

St. Paul-based Books for Africa shipments hit 1.9M (View Article)
July 26, 2011

St. Paul, Minn. — Books For Africa says it has shipped around 1.9 million books to 21 African countries in the past 12 months, a new high for the St. Paul-based nonprofit.

The group says the books were worth $22.2 million dollars. Books for Africa says it also shipped 643 computers and 13 brand new law libraries to Africa during the fiscal year that ended June 30.
Read more>>

 

St. Paul Pioneer Press

Patrick Plonski: Ideas, books and the building of democracy (editorial) (View Editorial)
February 12, 2011

The peaceful throngs on the streets of Cairo have won the first round in the battle for democracy in Egypt by forcing President Hosni Mubarak out of office. But the hard work of nation building is only just beginning.

For Egypt to thrive as a truly democratic state, it will have to build up its educational institutions and civic organizations and establish the essential ingredient of any democracy: the rule of law.

American organizations dedicated to these principles are willing to help - organizations like St. Paul-based Books For Africa and its Jack Mason Law & Democracy Initiative. Books For Africa believes that education is the great equalizer in the world and that books are the foundation of a strong educational system. Over the past 23 years, Books For Africa has shipped 24 million books to 45 African countries, including Tunisia and Egypt. In August, Books for Africa shipped a container of 18,000 books to the Alexandria Library in Egypt.
Read more>>

 

The Star Tribune

Teaming up to stop Africa's 'book famine' (View Article)
January 22, 2011

As one of the poorest regions in the world, Africa is all too familiar with famines.

But there is one shortage on the continent, home to about a billion people in more than 50 countries, that has stretched for decades and decades: The lack of books.

"The need is incredible," Patrick Plonski, executive director of Books for Africa, said recently. "There is a huge demand. Our goal is to end the book famine in Africa."
Read more>>

 

Mshale

Books For Africa and Thomson Reuters sign $1.2 million agreement (View Article)
Goal is to support establishment of the rule of law and democracy in Africa
December 1, 2010

Books For Africa, the largest shipper of donated text books to Africa and Thomson Reuters - Legal, the legal publishing behemoth, on Monday signed a $1.2 million agreement aimed at supporting governing institutions and the rule of law in Africa's emerging democracies.

The agreement signed at Thomson Reuters' headquarters in Eagan, Minnesota, is directed at Books For Africa's Jack Mason Law & Democracy Initiative and will include the provision of $1.2 million worth of legal education books and materials to law schools in Africa's developing democracies. Thomson Reuters funds to offset the shipping costs of the legal texts and will continue to provide advertising, logistical and printing support to Books For Africa and the Jack Mason Law & Democracy Initiative.
Read more>>

 

School Library Journal

Capstone Donates $3 Million in Books to School Libraries in Africa  (View Article)
November 30, 2010

Just in time for the holidays, children's book publisher Capstone is donating $5 million worth of books to Books for Africa, the largest shipper of donated text and library books to the continent.

Some 300,000 overstock books already began their journey to Africa on November 24, when they left the publisher's warehouse in Mankato, MN, and made their way to the Books for Africa offices in St. Paul, MN. The books are now being sorted and packaged for shipment to Africa.

"This incredibly generous donation from Capstone is one of the largest publisher donations received by Books for Africa we can remember and will fill many, many school libraries across Africa with books," says Pat Plonski, the nonprofit organization's executive director. "We truly appreciate the tremendous support of everyone at Capstone in helping to increase levels of education and literacy across Africa. Through education we can prevent many problems in the developing world."
Read more>>

 

Smyrna-Vinings Patch

Books for Africa delivers education (View Article)
Nonprofit has sent more than 23 million donated text and library books to Africa 
November 25, 2010

Picture this: it's 20-plus years ago in a Ugandan classroom and a studious young girl is waiting patiently for her turn to read an out-of-date textbook. Twenty or so classmates also wait their turn to read quickly and take notes from the lone tattered learning material being passed around.

Tom Warth witnessed such a moment and decided he had to do something. That something became Books For Africa and its mission to gather books from the United States and ship them to Africa, where 40 percent of the 47 million kids have never been to a classroom.

Since its 1988 founding in St. Paul, Minn., this nonprofit has sent more than 23 million donated text and library books to 45 different African countries. Its commitment to creating a culture of literacy on the African continent is nothing short of inspiring.
Read more>>

 

Minnesota Public Radio

Mankato-based publisher to donate 300,000 books to Africa (View Article)
November 24, 2010

A Mankato-based children's book publisher is donating 300,000 overstock books to a nonprofit group that collects and ships books to African countries. 

The donation from Capstone is the largest that Twin Cities-based Books for Africa has received in several years, officials said.

The donated books, which Capstone says are worth $5 million, will be shipped to the Books for Africa warehouse in St. Paul starting on Wednesday. They'll then be packed and shipped to Africa.
Read more>>

 

The Wall Street Journal

PepsiCo and Books For Africa Bring 20,000 Books to South African Children (View Article)
November 17, 2010

PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), in coordination with Books For Africa, the largest shipper of donated books to Africa, announced today that it will distribute 20,000 books and supplies to locations in need in Johannesburg and the surrounding region. 

Throughout the week, SIMBA, PepsiCo's local snack business in South Africa, with support from local community leaders, will deliver the books to three schools and one orphanage in rural and impoverished areas facing challenges such as high unemployment levels. The partnership with Books For Africa was driven by MOSAIC, PepsiCo's African American employee resource group, and the company's global technology function, Business + Information Solutions, in an effort to expand community engagement activities outside of the United States.

"PepsiCo's involvement with Books For Africa responds to the recognized need to improve education and computer literacy in South Africa, particularly in rural areas," said Arnold Selokane, Community Manager at SIMBA in Isando, Johannesburg, who is leading distribution efforts and will personally deliver the donations to the schools and children. "Through this donation, we hope to generate broader awareness of the needs and issues in Africa. We will continue to work with communities in which we do business and form partnerships to bring about positive change."
Read more>>

 

Minnesota Public Radio

Books, by the Millions, for Africa (View or Listen to the Article)
October 6, 2010

While many of us take books for granted, in some parts of the world they are still a rarity. A St. Paul-based organization is trying to change this by sending millions of books, most of them school textbooks, to Africa.

In what used to be the keg room at the old Hamms Brewery in St. Paul, April Gilbert leads some new volunteers through what is now the Books for Africa Warehouse.
Read more>>

 

The Star Tribune

Alexandra Fuller to Speak at Literature Event: Books for Africa conference is this weekend (View Article)
October 6, 2010

Books for Africa's conference on African literature takes place Friday and Saturday, featuring Alexandra Fuller, author of the bestselling "Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight," as the keynote speaker.

The conference opens at 6 p.m. Friday with a free reading by Somali novelist and playwright Nuruddin Farah in the Cowles Auditorium of the Humphrey Center at the University of Minnesota. A reading and panel discussion at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in Cowles Auditorium features Nigerian writer Uwem Akpan, Kenyan writer and editor Billy Karanja Kahora and Fuller, followed by a reception and signing.
Read more>>

 

The New Media (Rwanda's First Daily)

Over 40 Schools to Get Textbooks from U.S. (View Article)
May 2010

41 schools countrywide are set to benefit from ‘Books for Africa’ project, by receiving 22,000 textbooks published in both English and Kinyarwanda for pre-primary and primary school children.

Books for Africa is a US based non-profit organisation that collects, sorts and ships books to children in Africa with the ultimate goal of ending ‘book famine’ in Africa.

The first batch of the books was distributed yesterday at Groupe Scolaire Mukamira in Nyabihu district, Northern Province.
Read more>>

 

St. Paul Pioneer Press

Crossroads to the World (editorial) (View Editorial)
April 2010

There is a green, gold and red sign jutting from a humble office building in St. Paul's Lowertown neighborhood that says "Books for Africa." It's a small statement (in the colors used for many African flags) that our city boasts the world's largest shipper of donated books to Africa — 22 million and counting after more than two decades in business.

This week, Ghana's ambassador to the U.S., Daniel Ohene Agyekum, came to the Twin Cities for a Books for Africa fundraiser and to pose in front of part of the latest shipment. Ghana is the group's largest recipient nation among 45 African countries it has shipped books to. Books for Africa is currently filling a 40-foot sea container with more than 20,000 books bound for the capital city of Accra.

Textbook diplomacy earned a visit last year from President Sharif Sheik Ahmed of Somalia, another book-recipient nation, further evidence that Lowertown has become a world crossroads to rival Paris, London, New York — and perhaps even Minneapolis.
Read more>>

 

More Magazine

The Book Farmer of Botswana (View Article)
February 2010

On this broiling October day in Maun, no one at the book choosing is complaining about the donation. Many of the visitors have walked, hitchhiked or bounced along in a public bus for up to 10 hours to get here. An air of purpose pervades the room. There is no breeze, no water and no snacks, but nobody seems to notice. “You have to see Pam to believe her,” says David Tregilges, an educator in Botswana. “She is this little fireball of a woman, fast-talking, passionate and undaunted by obstacles.” If she sees a child alone, she will make reading recommendations with an intensity that Tregilges says “always inspires and motivates.” Thanks in large part to Shelton, he says, over the past decade reading for pleasure has become a possibility for thousands in Botswana. In 2007, Shelton  received a James Patterson PageTurner Par Excellence Award for her devotion to cultivating readers.
Read more>>

 

Mankato Free Press

Free Books on Way to Africa: Capstone Publishers and Friends Giving Gift That Lasts (View Article)
November 23, 2009

More than 27,000 free books began wending their way to Africa Monday, courtesy of a local publishing company.

Children’s books emanating from Capstone Publishers’ North Mankato warehouse will stock school libraries throughout Africa under the Books for Africa program.
Read more>>

 

The Mining Journal

Marquette Native Promotes Books For Africa (View Article)
October 11, 2009

The exotic smells of chicken cooked Gambian style, North African lamb and date stew filled the community room at Peter White Public Library Friday evening.

People were there to taste the African dishes and then listen to Marquette native Carole Patrikakos, 30, who now lives in Minneapolis, speak about her work with the organization "Books for Africa."

We're constantly fundraising to get books to Africa where they're needed the most," she said, adding that those areas are often in countries devastated by civil wars.
Read more>>

 

CNN.com

Africa's Hidden Famine (View Article)
June 17, 2009

At first, the children's eyes light up with anticipation.

Then they stare in wonder. Some reach out and cradle the object as if it were treasure to be guarded. Others lift it up in triumph, singing and dancing in joy.

The gift that inspires this kind of marvel in many African children is none other than a simple schoolbook.
Read more>>

 

Atlanta Business Chronicle

Books For Africa Expands In Atlanta (View Article)
June 19, 2009

Books For Africa (BFA), the largest shipper of donated books to Africa, is opening a new warehouse in the Atlanta area that will become the organization’s primary shipping, receiving and sorting center.

Locally based Delta Air Lines and Our Reading Spaces, a nonprofit that shares BFA’s mission of improving literacy and education in Africa, has joined in welcoming Books For Africa to metro Atlanta...
Read more>>

 

Mshale

Books For Africa Expands Operations into Atlanta (View Article)
May 28, 2009

Books for Africa, the world’s largest shipper of donated books to the African Continent has opened a 20,000 square-foot warehouse in Atlanta.  The new facility, located just outside city of Atlanta in Smyrna, will serve as the organization’s primary shipping, receiving and sorting center.

Speaking during the grand opening ceremony James Kiiru, the Commercial attaché to the Kenyan Embassy in Washington DC praised the organization for its work…
Read more>>

 

The Liberian Journal

Ahmed Sirleaf, Others Secure Shipment of Books for Liberian Law School (View Article)
October 24, 2008

Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law at the University of Liberia in Monrovia, the Liberian capital, is expected to receive a shipment of law books and legal reference materials soon from the United States, The Liberian Journal has learned.

Books For Africa and Faegre & Benson Law Firm in Minneapolis, Minnesota, have donated the books…
Read more>>

 

Mshale

Books For Africa Celebrates 20 Years: 20 Million Books in 20 Years (View Article)
October 2, 2008

On September 12th the Minnesota and African communities did more than reconnect at The Minnesota History Center for the Books for Africa 20th Anniversary Gala. They celebrated their connection and renewed their pledge to support each other in the noble cause to end Africa’s book famine. In a jam packed auditorium, attendees wearing brightly colored and beautifully patterned African outfits keenly listened as representatives from Africa and local leaders praised and encouraged the organization for its work.

“I never imagined that I would have to speak to so many people today!” exclaimed Welile Nhlapo, South African ambassador to the U.S.... 
Read more>>

 

KARE11.com

Building a Bridge with Books (View Article)
September 2008

In most places, they'd end up in a landfill or recycling bin.

But at the old Hamm's Brewery in St. Paul, thousands and thousands of used books and classroom text books are sorted and packed daily, bound for an underdeveloped continent desperate for 'anything' to read.

Twin Cities-based 'Books For Africa' is celebrating both its 20th year, and its 20 millionth book sent to schools, universities, and libraries in 42 different African nations...
Read more>>