News

Thanks to generous funding from Donaldson Company, students in the South Africa are now the proud owners of over 20,000 BFA books. The Rotary Club of Kirstenbosch handled the distribution of the shipment. Some of the books were donated to the Shine Centre in Cape Town, who gave books to multiple schools in the area. Click on the link above for more info and to view photos…

More than 27,000 high-quality illustrated children’s books are headed to Africa thanks to Capstone Publishers in Mankato, Minnesota, USA. The 27,000 books have a retail value of $14.99 each. “It’s part of the culture of this company to give back. We value literacy,” said Lisa Hanson, Capstone’s director of human resources and community giving. Please click on the link above for more info and to view more photos…

The NGO Invisible Children recently began distributing a shipment of BFA books to libraries in eleven of its partner schools in Gulu, Uganda. According to their blog: “In Uganda, like many other countries in East Africa, students have next-to-no access to reading materials while at school. Making books available is the first part of the reading culture equation.” Click on the link above for more info…

Books For Africa–commissioned research was presented at the annual meeting of the African Studies Association held from November 19-22, 2009, in New Orleans, Louisiana. A paper entitled “Can Donated English-Language School Books Increase Literacy Levels in Africa? An Exploratory Investigation From Tanzania” was presented by BFA Executive Director Patrick Plonski, Ph.D. Key findings from Plonski’s research were that (1) United States donated English-language text and library books did increase reading comprehension scores in a year-long pre-test/post-test control group design in Tanzania; (2) that the books had perceived value by teachers and administrators in the schools included in the study; and (3) that this research can serve as a source of information confirming the value of book donations and that further research regarding the cost effectiveness of such book donations is warranted in other locations in Africa. Click on the link above for more info and to read the research paper...