S4S Update: The Books Have Arrived!

One of the many boxes of books recently delivered to Invisible Children’s Gulu office

It ain’t easy moving nine tons of anything, but books in particular are hard work.  A team of six men just unloaded dozens and dozens of boxes of books—24,000 in all—at Invisible Children’s Gulu office.  Sweat flowed down their faces under the midday sun like water from a tap.  They persevered though, and now we have our hands on something we’ve been working to procure for months:  enough books to stock the libraries of our 11 partner schools.

In January and February, once the new Ugandan school year starts, S4S will work to distribute all of the titles to our school libraries.  The books—some of the 1.6 million collected during the Round 3 book drive—cover a wide range of subjects and genres; some are textbooks and others are novels.  As we prepare to launch our reading club curriculum, READ, at our schools, the books couldn’t have come at a more perfect time.  They’ll supplement the novels students read in their clubs.  The READ clubs and this recent shipment of books are the latest steps IC has taken to improve reading culture at its partner schools.  In Uganda, like many other countries in East Africa, students have next-to-no access to reading materials while at school.  Making books available is the first part of the reading culture equation.  Invisible Children has teamed up with Books for Africa (booksforafrica.org) to bring this book delivery to fruition.

The librarians have been trained.  The books are here.  Bring on the new school year!