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The Borgen Project spoke with Books For Africa’s Executive Director Patrick Plonski. Rather than sending the books wherever the organization prefers, the organization operates under what Plonski describes as a “demand-driven” system. Organizations in Africa send out requests for books, which Books For Africa then attempts to meet. The sizes of organizations requesting books range from as small as a village to as large as a country.

As COVID-19 continues to afflict Africa where, according to the BBC, more than 130,000 people have died of the coronavirus and cases are on the rise in many countries, the Saint Paul-based nonprofit Books For Africa is ramping up the quantity and quality of the books it supplies to reduce the continent’s high rates of illiteracy.

"Conversations with Al McFarlane" recently hosted Incoming BFA Board President Al McFarlane and BFA Executive Director Pat Plonski for an interview.

Books For Africa, a charity that ships donated books from the United States to schools and students in Africa, opened a new warehouse in Atlanta on June 26. The event attracted some 200 people, including Hilda Suka-Mafudze, the African Union ambassador to the United States, who offered a keynote speech.

Books for Africa hosted a grand opening celebration of its new warehouse opening on Saturday attended by over 200 people. The event comes on the heels of an historic accomplishment earlier this year when it completed its 50 millionth book shipment last year.

The African Union Ambassador to the United States, Her Excellency Hilda Suka-Mafudze, served as the keynote speaker for the grand opening of the Books For Africa (BFA) Atlanta warehouse on June 26, 2021. The event took place against the backdrop of the celebration of the African Union 2021 theme of the year: “Arts, Culture and Heritage: Levers for Building the Africa We Want.”