News

On November 29, 2010, supporters of Thomson Reuters and the Jack Mason Law & Democracy Initiative of Books For Africa gathered to formalize and celebrate their partnership. Thomson Reuters has pledged to provide up to 15 core law libraries for BFA shipments each year for the next several years and will fund one shipment a year, a donation worth $1.2 million a year. Thomson Reuters hosted the reception, which featured a keynote address by former Vice President Walter Mondale, a co-chair of the Initiative. Click on the link above for more info...

Pat Plonski, Executive Director of Books For Africa; Shaun Skelton, Executive Director of Visions In Action; and David Murphy, President of Better World Books, presented to the African Studies Association on November 20, 2010. The title of their presentation was "Providing Books For Schools and Libraries in Africa: What Is the Impact on Literacy?" The presentation focused on best practices, return on investment, and impacts of donated books on literacy across the African continent. Click on the link above for more info and to read the papers presented...

Now you can buy a BFA T-shirt from anywhere in the world from the Out of Print website! Proceeds from shirt sales will be used to send even more books to children in Africa. Click on the link above for more details...

Books For Africa hosted two events celebrating modern African literature on October 9, 2010. The first was a Conference on African Literature at the Humphrey Center at the University of Minnesota, featuring a panel discussion and readings from three distinguished authors: Alexandra Fuller (Zimbabwe), Uwem Akpan (Nigeria), and Billy Karanja Kahora (Kenya). Thomson Reuters was the Presenting Sponsor. Click on the link above for more info and to view event photos...

In April of 2010, U.S. Ambassador to Rwanda Stuart Symington and a group of Peace Corps Volunteers delivered 22,000 BFA books to 41 schools in Rwanda. The container was funded by the U.S. Embassy and USAID/Rwanda, in consultation with the Ministry of Education. Officiating at a book distribution at Groupe Scolaire Mukamira, Ambassador Symington told the students, "“Learning is good and interesting when you share with others. Make sure you read those books to your brothers and sisters." Click on the link above for more info...

Minnesota Public Radio recently did a great story on Books For Africa in conjunction with last weekend's Conference on African Literature. Click on the link above to read or listen to the story...