This campaign has now closed
In 2009, we aim to provide at least 64,000 books, at a cost of £2 a book (but worth an estimated £768,000 due to the high value donations we receive from UK publishers) for our partners in Tanzania. We respond to partner libraries’ detailed request forms so that the materials they receive are relevant and appropriate to their needs.
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Beneficiaries
Situation
Tanzania introduced Universal Primary Education after independence and by the late 70s primary enrolment had reached 96%. Since the late 1980s it has dropped and in most schools there is no library and pupils are likely to share text books between ten or more. Almost one-third of adults cannot read and write. In 2009 we aim to provide over 64,000 high quality books, worth an estimated £470,000, to our partners in Tanzania. The Tanzania Library Services Board (TLSB) is our major partner and distributes books to its network of community libraries, to universities, development organisations, law organisations, and Public Libraries on the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba. Both run a popular Friday afternoon children's session. With local partners, we have run a children’s reading tents project for East Africa for several years. In Tanzania in 2008, 22 reading tents were held, reaching around 7,000 children. At the end of the fun packed day, each school took away 100 books, including books from our warehouse and new books purchased locally, often in Swahili. Books change lives. We need to raise £137,000 to provide these books and to manage our programme in Tanzania in 2009.