Expanding Access to Digital Storybooks Across Africa
The Library Project is excited to welcome African Storybook as our newest Global Partner, expanding our work to improve children’s access to high-quality, culturally relevant books across Africa.
African Storybook provides free, open access to thousands of digital picture storybooks in more than two-hundred African languages. The platform was created in response to a significant challenge facing children learning to read: a shortage of engaging, age-appropriate books in languages they know and understand.
Expanding Access to Children’s Books
Through our new partnership, The Library Project will support African Storybook’s digital library of children’s books, helping make diverse reading materials available to more children, teachers, families, and communities.
African Storybook’s approach makes its collection especially accessible. Stories can be read online, downloaded for offline reading, or printed for use in classrooms and communities. Its open licensing also allows educators and communities to translate and adapt stories, helping create reading materials that reflect local languages, cultures, and experiences.
This flexibility allows a single story to reach children in many different languages and settings, including communities where access to traditional children’s books may be limited.
“We are excited to welcome African Storybook to The Library Project’s growing network of Global Partners,” said Tom Stader, Executive Director & Founder of The Library Project. “Their digital library demonstrates how technology and open access can help overcome barriers to children’s books. We look forward to supporting their work and helping more children discover stories in languages that are familiar and meaningful to them.”
Through our Global Partnerships initiative, The Library Project works with locally led nonprofit organizations to strengthen and expand children’s literacy programs worldwide. We provide funding, capacity building, fundraising support, and free resources to help our partners grow their impact and reach more children.
Help us bring more stories to more children in the languages they know and understand. Your support helps The Library Project partner with organizations like African Storybook to expand access to high-quality, culturally relevant children’s books.
About African Storybook
Launched in 2014, African Storybook is an initiative of Saide, a nonprofit organization based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Its vision is to provide open access to picture storybooks in the languages of Africa to support children’s literacy, enjoyment, and imagination. In addition to reading stories, the African Storybook platform allows users to create new picture books, translate existing stories, adapt books for different reading levels, and build their own storybook collections. These tools help educators and communities develop reading resources that respond directly to the needs of the children they serve. Through this new Global Partnership, The Library Project looks forward to supporting African Storybook as it continues expanding access to children’s books across Africa.
About The Library Project
The Library Project is dedicated to improving children’s literacy worldwide. We envision a world where every child has access to a quality education, and that starts with literacy. Since 2006, The Library Project has benefited 1,500,000 children, established 8,000 libraries, and donated 2,400,000 books.
Our programs include Reading Rooms, Reading Corners, Book Donations, Children’s Literacy Bags, Literacy Programs, Teacher Training, Parent Engagement Workshops, and Capacity Building for global literacy organizations. We support rural and urban schools, community centers, refugee camps, and homes. We work in over thirty countries throughout Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas.
For more information, visit www.library-project.org.
