Books For Africa
A simple name for an organization with a simple mission. We collect, sort, ship, and distribute books to students of all ages in Africa. Our goal: to end the book famine in Africa.
Books For Africa remains the largest shipper of donated text and library books to the African continent, shipping over 44 million books to all 55 countries on the African continent since 1988. In fiscal year 2018 alone, Books For Africa shipped 2.3 million books, and 123 computers and e-readers containing 283,000 digital books, to 29 African countries. More than $2.2 million was raised last year to ship these books to the students of Africa.
To learn more about groups currently fundraising to ship books to specific African countries, view the Projects page.
To learn more about the Jack Mason Law & Democracy Initiative, Agricultural Libraries, or French Books view the Special Initiatives page
Contact Books for AfricaBooks For Africa is a simple idea, but its impact is transformative. For us, literacy is quite simply the bridge from misery to hope.
— Kofi Annan, former U.N. Secretary-General
EIN 41-1627391
The Latest
MoneyGram Foundation Grant Provides Access to Education
The MoneyGram Foundation provided a $50,000 grant to Books For Africa to sponsor a shipment of 66,000 books, computers and maps to schools in Ghana, Cameroon, and Ethiopia, and a team of employees in the MoneyGram International Minneapolis office volunteered to sort donated books at Books For Africa’s St. Paul, Minnesota warehouse.
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Board Member Perspective
Books For Africa Board Members come from a wide variety of professional and cultural backgrounds, and are integral to BFA’s ongoing development and growth. In a blog post for Lerner Publishing, current Board President-Elect Joni Sussman discusses connecting her background in children's publishing with BFA's mission on a trip to South Africa.
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African Union Summit Highlights East Africa Trip
Books For Africa Founder Tom Warth, Board President Jote Taddese, and Executive Director Patrick Plonski were honored to attend the African Union Summit, held at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia! The Summit was part of a larger trip by BFA leadership, which also included stops in Dubai, Egypt, and Tanzania.
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Books For Africa Photo Contest Winner Announced
Books For Africa is excited to share the results of our recently completed photo contest! We received fantastic photo submissions from across the African continent; our thanks to our partners for sharing their work with us. This year's winning photo was submitted by our friends from TESOL International Association in Libya, whose photo will be featured in our upcoming annual report!
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Books Reach Students in Soweto and Durban, South Africa
Last summer we were pleased to host a group from the MN Orchestra at our Minnesota warehouse, where they helped unveil two beautiful Little Free Libraries to be included in a BFA container shipment to South Africa. These books have now been delivered and distributed, and are contributing to educational opportunity for students in Soweto, South Africa. T
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