How to Create a School Library in the Third World
As an avid reader, you're already familiar with the power books have to transport you out of your everyday life into fantastic and faraway worlds. You also appreciate the independence books afford you. With a library card, you can teach yourself about any subject. You want to share these privileges with impoverished kids in the Third World. Perhaps one of the best ways to do this is to partner with a school and build a library.
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Instructions
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Choose a place where you want to build your school library. The term Third World refers to a vast swath of countries all over the world. You could be imagining a favela, or slum, in Rio de Janeiro or a rural village in Cambodia. These locations will have very different needs and challenges. You'll need to become an expert in the area and its specific needs before you get started.
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Decide what role you want to take in building the school library. Depending upon your resources, skills and availability, you could donate money to another organization experienced in building libraries, found your own organization and lead the construction of a single library, or move to your chosen location, buy your supplies and build a library with your own hands.
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Contact other organizations that are already doing similar work in your area. Even if you've decided to found your own organization or build a library yourself, these organizations can help you with tips and advice from their experiences. For example, if you wanted to build a school library in Cambodia, you could contact Books for Cambodia and ask them for guidance. This organization builds school libraries in Takeo province. A representative can describe the organization's advances and setbacks and can mentor you when you build school libraries in another province.
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Establish reliable contacts in the area where you want to build your school library. If you're planning to move to the site and oversee the construction of the library yourself, you'll still have to hire a trustworthy assistant who is fluent in the local language and customs.
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Raise money for your school library. In addition to the initial expenses of building and stocking the library, you'll have operation costs. You'll need to do maintenance on your building and your collections. Ask your friends for donations, hold fundraisers and apply for grants for your library to ensure that you can keep it running once you have it built.
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Interview local teachers and scholars of your site's literature and history. These people can help you to compile a list of what books you'll need to get for your library. Presumably, you'll want to stock books relevant to the local culture, in the local language.
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Acquire stock for your library. You may have been imagining that you collect donated books from your friends or even donate your own collection. This will not work. Books are heavy and prohibitively expensive to ship. You're going to need to acquire the bulk of your books in the country where your library will be built.
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