Media & Press

The New Media (Rwanda's First Daily)

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

KIGALI - 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.
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St. Paul Pioneer Press

Crossroads to the World (editorial) (View Article)
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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...
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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…
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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…
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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.... 
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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...
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