IFLANET home - International Federation of Library Associations and InstitutionsActivities and ServicesSearchContacts

Libraries for Children and Young Adults Section

Vanishing Project: Books for All

An International project for children's libraries in developing countries

What is a book?

One definition: it is a highly rare object in many developing countries, especially in rural areas. Most people simply do not have enough money to purchase books, and libraries are rare or poorly supplied at best. Under such lacking conditions, it is the children and youth - who would like to read, learn, and get ahead - who suffer most. Children and books must be brought together. The preservation of the identity of any folk depends on its children knowing its history and traditions, as well as their ability to record personal experiences and acquire basic knowledge in a variety of fields. Only those children who read regularly can gain the knowledge and convictions which are absolutely necessary for them to mature, to become conscientious individuals, and to be developmentally prepared to meet the challenges of the future.

Since 1973, the IFLA/UNESCO project, BOOKS FOR ALL, has been able to support libraries for children and young people in 54 developing countries. Now this developmental aid for libraries is coming to an end. As of the 30th of June, 2002, the BOOKS FOR ALL donations account was closed. A total of US$ 500.000, - has been collected and correspondingly disbursed. At the 75th IFLA Conference in Glasgow, the international initiative for the support of children's and young adult's libraries in developing countries will be honoured and thereupon officially ended. I have received questions from all sides as to why such a successful project, which has recently be-come well-known in many circles, is to be concluded. I have also been asked about the possibility of a follow-up project. The answers are as follows, and I give them with pride, a bit of nostalgia, and with gratitude.

Projects are characterised in the fact that they have a certain time limit, definitive goals to be reached, and that they will come to an end.

BOOKS FOR ALL was founded in 1973 based on the idea of the IFLA Section of Libraries for Children and Young Adults. The desire was to provide funding to those children's and young adult's libraries in financial need within developing countries and to contribute to fighting illiteracy. A co-operation with the Co-Action Programme of UNESCO would help make provisions available. While the project management details and the disbursement of provisions would be required on behalf of IFLA. The project was set at US$ 500.000, - as well as at the international level by UNESCO's Co-Action Programme - alongside 30 less encompassing national developmental aid campaigns. Up to now, it has never been a question of what, when, where, and how it should all be done, but rather a question of imagination and professionalism. Numerous partners, i.e., institutions as well as individuals, have stood by this volunteer project ready and willing. The annual report has been presented at each and every IFLA conference, where it often received constructive criticism. The funds hoped for by the UNESCO Co-Action Programme, however, came in sparsely and irregularly. Therefore, the project directors, chosen by the IFLA Section of Libraries for Children and Young Adults, Colin Ray (1973-1976) and Margaret Marshall (1977-1989), started fund-raising on their end in Great Britain. An English language leaflet was distributed. Students and young professionals, publishers and individuals from the British Book Trust supported the project. By 1989, a total of US$ 110.000, - had been collected through the UNESCO and IFLA channels, and, based on a set criteria, was distributed to libraries for children and young adults in developing countries. A tough business - "carried out" by two world organisations, which relied heavily on the engagement of individual people, and on occasion, promoted the uniqueness of the project and funded expenses.

Since 1990, I have directed the project, firstly, in my function as deputy director of the International Youth Library in Munich, and since 1992, additionally, as a member of IFLA. In a private office space and with the generous support of a local law firm (i.e., through secretarial help and the use of office equipment), I have worked more or less full-time, and on a volunteer basis for the project. Without the work space, equipment and the private sponsor, I would have had to give up. However, much has contributed to my enthusiasm in this matter. Since 1995, two further office spaces have been made available to me. From 1996 to 2000, much of the accumulated work was completed by two volunteers who regularly put in six hours a week each. I, myself, have reported extensively on the project's work in the annual reports, as well as in various special publications. The documentation prepared for 1998 and many press contributions mirror the project's various activities.

Requests For Funding

The requests for funding came in continuously; they came in from over 50 countries written in English, Spanish and French. Often they were fantastic, wonderfully formulated, on nice paper with proper headings and word-processed by computer. Sometimes, however, they were barely legible, either typewritten or handwritten on already torn and tattered (airmail) paper. They came from librarians and teachers, as well as from US-Peace Corps volunteers, as well as from those who simply wanted to do something for the future of their children. Everyone was crying out for books, for school books and for library books for children! I analysed these letters, established priori-ties, developed a waiting list, and delivered rejections or sent money through UNESCO, to children's, young adult's and school libraries in Bangladesh, Guatemala, Lesoto, and many other countries in amounts from US$ 500, - up to US$ 2.000,-- a piece. Resident colleagues predominately purchased books in their native languages which the children were able to read and understand. In the scope of such a long term developmental aid programme, an additional and more important effect was especially noteworthy, i.e., the resulting support of the local book industries, in particular the local authors, publishers, and booksellers.

Fundraising Activities

Although the amounts were increasingly sparse, money approved by UNESCO continuously flowed to the programme. Private fundraising activities, as well as those held in libraries helped to increase the size of the minute donations. For many years, donation cans stood at libraries in Germany, Sweden, Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Austria, Switzerland, USA and Canada. Colleagues in special interest groups in Japan sent continually larger donations. In addition, money was collected through the sale of posters and post-cards. Since its premier at the Leipzig city library in November 1994, the touring exhibition "Children read everywhere" (consisting of 80 picture boards from all six continents) has been shown at thirty locations, including libraries, schools, and city halls. Due to low rates, the exhibition brought in enough not only to cover expenses, but also for the allotments of US$ 5.000,-- for libraries in Nepal, Pakistan, and Thailand. On the occasion of the 30th International Children's Book Day in 1996, authors and illustrators of children's books donated money. Publishing houses for children's literature donated books, which brought in money as desirable raffle prizes. In 1997 donations totalling US$ 100.000,-- were collected! A large portion thereof came from the Munich City Libraries which throughout the year offered their discarded books to the public in exchange for small donations. For the occasion of its 100th birthday, the Gothenburg city library in Sweden showed its strong commitment by holding a fundraiser for BOOKS FOR ALL. The proceeds went to support three larger children's libraries in Ethiopia, India, and Columbia. The calendar, "Kinder lesen *berall - Children read everywhere", which was first brought out in 1998, has celebrated extensive popularity for five years and has sold well. For its 25th jubilee during the 1998 IFLA Conference in Amsterdam, the Dutch artist Dick Bruna presented the project with a placard sketch. In addition, street collections, smaller benefits, and private donations regularly adduced money.

Publicity

In the setting of IFLA, IBBY, and ALA conferences, as well as at book fairs in Frankfurt/Germany and Bologna/Italy, as well as during various smaller seminars, the project has regularly been promoted and discussed. Much attention was and has been drawn to it through two semester projects by students and various press contributions.

Advisory Board

BOOKS FOR ALL was not a private project. It always was under the jurisdiction of the IFLA Section for Children's Libraries, which regularly received annual reports and other information. Due to the fact that the project itself had changed, an advisory board was formed during a conference in Istanbul. This group, consisting of members from various IFLA Sections, came together at annual conferences and provided supervision, as well as encouragement.

Co-operation - Acknowledgements

Co-operation - Acknowledgements The co-operation between IFLA and UNESCO proved to be relatively unproblematic, and some-times a bit tenacious and bureaucratic. On the German side, the Goethe Institute Inter Nationes, the German Foundation for International Development (DSE), and the German UNESCO Commission all supported the project in many ways. In 1998 BOOKS FOR ALL received an award of recognition from the German Reading Foundation for its commitment to promoting reading on an international level.

A Follow-up Project

Such a small project such as BOOKS FOR ALL, which has often been overestimated by colleagues in developing countries, could never measure up to such large scale, fulltime managed foundations as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Carnegie Foundation, Book Aid International, CODE or the World Book Bank. Nevertheless, the project had the unique advantage that its books did not originate from foreign cultural areas (cultural imperialism), rather all proceeds were used for the purchase of local children's books, stimulating the local production thereof. Since these books - from our perspective - are valuable, librarians were immediately able to acquire 500 new books locally for US$ 2.000,--. This is an enormous improvement for a small children's library or even two complete portable libraries!

The need for projects such as BOOKS FOR ALL, in particular for the support of children's, young adult's and school libraries in developing countries, continues to exist in great measure. However, in order to do more than simply spout the rhetoric that "children are our future" and "education makes progress possible" and instead provide the continued support needed, a follow-up project would have to be conceived of differently today than in 1973. Perhaps it could consist of two full-time qualified persons under the umbrella of one foundation . . . In any case, a "call to action" must come from the colleagues in the developing countries themselves.

Thanks

I would like to hereby give thanks to the many individuals and institutions for their confidence and support. Without them, this project would never have made it off the ground and my visits throughout the years for tours, deliberations and workshops to the children's and young adult's libraries in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Jordan and Lebanon, in Kenya, the Congo (Zaire), Senegal, Zimbabwe and Uganda, in Brazil, Guatemala, Columbia and Peru, would never have taken place.

Lioba Betten