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One of the great things about hosting this podcast is the fact that I have had the privilege and honor of being in conversation with some amazing people.
This week is no different! Our guest, Tom Warth, is the founder of Books For Africa, a not-for-profit organization that has shipped more than 25 million books to Africa. He is also a great philanthropist and someone who is passionate about giving back to human kind.
Enjoy the conversation.
About Tom Warth & Books For Africa
Tom Warth came to the United States from Great Britain in 1960. In 1966, he started a book selling business. After more than 20 years, Tom sold the business to the San Francisco Chronicle in 1988. He took some time to travel the world. He left on an adventure and returned with a mission!
Books For Africa was founded that same year (1988) as a nonprofit (501.c.3) organization by Tom. It became his dream to ship donated books to the children of Africa. Tom’s visit to a Ugandan library, where books were almost nonexistent, inspired him to create a system for collecting discarded books from American schools, libraries, and publishers to send to Africa.
The mission of Books For Africa is to end the book famine in Africa. With your help, we will help create a culture of literacy and provide the tools of empowerment to the next generation of parents, teachers, and leaders in Africa.
Books donated by publishers, schools, libraries, individuals, and organizations are sorted and packed by volunteers who carefully choose books that are age and subject appropriate. We send good books, enough books for a whole class to use.
They are shipped in sea containers paid for by contributions from people like you. It costs about 50 cents to send a book from the United States to Africa. Since 1988, Books For Africa has shipped more than 24 million books to 46 African countries. They are on once-empty library shelves, in classrooms in rural schools, and in the hands of children who have never before held a book.
You can learn more about Books For Africa by visiting them online at www.booksforafrica.org or on Facebook!
Images courtesy of Book For Africa.
All rights reserved by Books For Africa