By 2030, more than a third of the world’s children and young people will live in Africa. That’s an estimated 733 million young people, millions of whom are at risk of being left behind. Facing poverty, displacement, and marginalization, they lack even the most basic learning tools—books. Without the opportunity to read, their futures are limited from the start.
Our charity, Book Aid International, works to share the power of books and create a more equal world. Every year, we provide more than one million brand-new books to the places where they’ll make the biggest difference—all of which are donated to us by leading publishers—and work with our partners to create and support reading spaces. Each book we provide is carefully selected in response to partner requests, ensuring it meets communities’ real needs.
We know the power of books, and we know that we must act now to ensure that today’s children and young people have the books they need to grow into tomorrow’s doctors, teachers, business leaders, journalists, and more. That’s why we’re launching our most ambitious program to date: Generation Reader.
Reaching 10 million young people
Generation Reader aims to equip 10 million young people who would otherwise miss out on the chance to read with the books they need to realize their ambitions—and their dreams. We have years of experience working with our partners to make sure that children and young people have access to books. Generation Reader will expand that work across sub-Saharan Africa, especially where young people face the greatest challenges. We will:
- Provide 10 million young Africans with access to 1.5 million brand-new, publisher-donated books
- Create 300 new reading spaces in the heart of communities
- Train 1,500 teachers and librarians to help young people discover the joy and power of reading
Students like Fabiola are at the heart of Generation Reader. She lives in rural Malawi, and her family barely makes ends meet as farmers. Neither of her parents went to secondary school and they simply don’t have the means to buy her books. In her community, girls are often discouraged from learning: “Some boys try to stop us when we are going to school. When we refuse to stop, they threaten to beat us. It makes me angry, but I just go on with my journey,” she says.
Despite these challenges, Fabiola has big dreams. She wants to be a nurse, and thanks to a library we established in her school, her experience of education has been transformed: “When there were no books, I could not understand the teacher,” she says, “but since the library books came things started sinking into my head. I rely on the books and I am learning so much. I want to live a life of studying and love for education. I would like to ask for more books so that I can finish school and find my dream job.”
Donate books for readers like Fabiola
Millions of young people like Fabiola still live in a world without books. With your support, Generation Reader will give 10 million of them the opportunity to read, and with it the chance to build confidence, thrive in school, and pursue their ambitions.
We are seeking publishers who can donate brand-new books in English to our London warehouse. To make Generation Reader a reality we need books to support education at every level—from pre-school right through to university—as well as leisure reading texts to encourage young readers to develop reading confidence and a life-long love of books.
If you’d like to discuss a book donation, please contact our stock acquisition manager Simon Mercer (simon.mercer@bookaid.org). You can also find out more about donating books by visiting bookaid.org/support-us/donate-books/.
Emma Taylor is head of communications at Book Aid International.
