Our first donation!

Our first donation of books has arrived! A huge thank you to my former roommate at Smith for her generous donation -- and for sending the books directly to the university!

 

There is another box of donated books waiting at the Embassy in Lilongwe to be brought down to Blantyre. Thank you in advance to those whose generous donations are in that box!

Books for Blantyre begins!

 

This project is designed to help the students at Blantyre International University, a university located in Blantyre, Malawi, gain access to textbooks. Textbooks are more difficult to buy in Malawi than in other countries, and the cost is quite exorbitant. At U.S. prices, without the costly additional expense of shipping to Malawi, the cost of a $100 textbook is extremely expensive, considering the average yearly salary in Malawi is under $400 USD.

Students in class, working on a case study in groups

Students at Blantyre International University do not have the easy option of buying their own textbooks for their classes. An entire class of students (10, 50, or sometimes 200 students) shares one or two copies of the textbook required for their class. Thus, it is important for the University library to acquire more copies of all the courses' textbooks, to enable students easier access to their course reading material.

My classroom which later will be filled with students.
All of my students have to share one textbook that is housed in the library.

As a lecturer at Blantyre International University, I know first-hand the dearth of resources available to both the professors and students. The University Library's resources are a mere sliver of what was available to me as a kindergarten student at my small K-8 elementary school in the U.S.  

The extent of the University Library's stacks

Thus, the library at Blantyre International University has a long Wish List of books to add to its collection. If you have any of these listed textbooks that you no longer need, please consider donating them to Books for Blantyre. By donating textbooks on the Wish Lists to the University, you are single-handedly helping a university student increase his/her opportunity to read, learn, and succeed in class.

Navigate the pages on the right to see the Wish List of textbooks for each department at the University and to learn more about Blantyre International University.

At the moment, because this project is in its infancy, I am asking for donations of only textbooks (or the newer editions of these textbooks) on the Wish Lists.

This is a not-for-profit project.