Message from Books For Africa Leadership Regarding Federal International Aid Cuts

Many of our friends and supporters have expressed concern about the recent dramatic cuts in U.S. federal international development funding. These cuts have severely impacted many international NGOs that rely heavily on support from USAID and other federal sources. We sympathize with these organizations, whose missions are now at risk due to these significant funding reductions.

Books For Africa has also been affected by this funding freeze. However, thanks to our diversified funding sources and the unwavering generosity of our private donors, we are fortunate to continue our mission without interruption. We are deeply grateful to every individual, corporation, Rotary club, church, and member of the African diaspora who has supported our work. Over 90% of our funding comes from private sources, allowing us to remain resilient and ship more than 61 million books to Africa over the past 37 years.

Thanks to your continued support, Books For Africa will stay the course. Despite the current challenges facing the international aid community, we plan to ship 2.2 million books to over 35 African countries this year alone—advancing education, literacy, and economic opportunity across the continent.

We are proud to be based in the United States, working to send a message that the American people believe in and support global education and development. Books For Africa is here to stay, and together, we will keep changing lives.

Thank you for standing with us!

Sincerely,

Patrick Plonski
Executive Director

On behalf of the Books For Africa Board of Directors

Books For Africa remains the largest shipper of donated text and library books to the African continent, shipping over 61 million books to all 55 countries on the African continent since 1988.  Last year alone, Books For Africa shipped over 1.6 million books, valued at over $16 million, to 31 African countries. Approximately one million digital books were also shipped on 357 computers and tablets. Over $2.2 million was raised to ship these books to partners across Africa.

To learn more about groups currently fundraising to ship books to specific African countries, view the Projects page.

To learn more about the Girls Empowerment Collections, BFA Publishing, Law & Democracy Initiative, Agricultural Libraries, or French Books view the Special Initiatives page

Contact Books For Africa