Who we are
"We have twenty thousand books to service the needs of 6 million people, that's one book for every three people and no books in our schools at all" - Chief Librarian, Sierra Leone Library Board April 2009
Build on Books (BOB) is the codep literacy campaign working with local communities in Sierra Leone, the world’s third poorest country, to ensure that everyone has a chance to read. If you want to more about how you can help contact us.
We are hoping to send hundreds of thousands of more books from all sorts of sources in the UK to establish more school libraries and literacy resource centres in Sierra Leone. The almost complete absence of a reading culture throughout the country and the endemic levels of illiteracy underpins very poor economic activity, mass youth unemployment and the worlds worst infant and maternal mortality rates.
BOB is transforming schools, and libraries in Sierra Leone, where there has been a desperate shortage of books & resources since the end of the civil war in 2002. Following our first collection of books in 2009, BOB sent 200,000 books to Sierra Leone to give the children and communities of this English speaking West African country a chance to learn and prosper. We aim to send a further 500,000 books to this recovering beautiful country in 2010 to fill schools and libraries, and also to stock our first literacy resources centre known as the Equiano Centre which is being built in Waterloo in the Western Rural District.
Sierra Leone’s educational system was decimated during the long civil war, however, the love of learning and commitment to education has never diminished. As the country slowly recovers, many children are still struggling to survive disease and poverty, but with the prospect of an education they have hope for the future.
Although primary education is now free, pupils are often crammed into dreary classrooms accommodating up to 90 children, of different ages, without any books or even somewhere to sit. Often, unqualified teachers use rote learning to try to teach as best they can. Without adequate educational resources Sierra Leone still languishes at the bottom of the UN league table for literacy.
However, thanks to all the people who have contributed to the BOB campaign, dramatic change is happening. To date 50 Schools have been brought back to life as children are given a comfortable place in which to sit and learn and class libraries with lots & lots of books. Children who have never read a book before now have the opportunity to experience the joy and benefits of reading with a great array of titles to choose from. School libraries and literacy resource facilities of 1,500 books offer a choice of classic literature, text books, maths books, science books, reference books, encyclopaedias and picture books and popular fiction all donated by generous book-lovers in the UK. We are training teachers who have never had access to books before to use their new stocks to inspire their pupils and create a love of lifelong learning.
Books have also been donated to the teachers’ college and national library, and BOB will be re-stocking the library of the Sierra Leone Government, with the assistance of the UK Parliamentary Libray.
Build on Books works in conjunction with the partners of the Construction and Development Partnership charity codep; Greenworks and Business Moves Group. Together we fill containers with desks, chairs, book-cabinets and most importantly up to 50,000 books. These shipments are sent to Waterloo, Sierra Leone, where they are sorted by age and content by volunteer teachers and librarians. This in country handling group, known as the ‘Waterloo Reading Culture Committee’, have inspired the Build on Books campaign and they continue to lead the way. They visit schools that have never had books before to promote a culture of reading and help prepare teachers to receive their first shipment of books.
Many children are too young to remember the war, we hope that one day they won’t even remember a time when there were no books.
Our goal for 2010 is to send 500,000 books
You can help too by helping Build on Books raise £100,000 this year. This will help CODEP continue its work and pay for the shipment of books and support the training and development of teachers & librarians. Together we can help Sierra Leone’s children read & learn - the people and children of this beautiful country need your books.
Remember contact us if you have any questions or want to know more about how you can help.
