Longstanding readers of Petrona may dimly recollect that back in April I posted about Book Aid International and its reverse book club. The slogan of this wonderful organisation is "4 books for £5 and you never receive any of them!" Instead, your monthly subscription buys books for communities where people cannot afford to buy them -- not publishers' remainders, but current titles.
Book Aid International's December newsletter is written by Millicent Mlanga, the community librarian for Kilifi, south-east Kenya. She writes about the new library there, started in 2002, and how children love coming to the visit, particularly enjoying the "big books" supplied by Book Aid International. She also explains how books about the sustainable management of land are helping people in families devastated by famine or AIDS to learn agricultural knowledge that their parents could not pass on to them.
So, my fellow book lovers, I urge you to support this worthy organisation, to help provide books for communities like this. You can make a regular donation, send "reverse" book tokens or buy your own books through a website that will donate part of each purchase. Please find out more about Book Aid International at the organisation's website. Thank you.
What a wonderful idea. Thanks for this. I plan on spreading the word via my blog.
Posted by: kimbofo | 29 November 2006 at 21:32