Did you know that 260 million children in the developing world do not have access to a single book? So imagine an online digital library giving these children access to millions of ebooks that our children take for granted every day?
West London Mum met Tanyella Evans, COO and Co-Founder of Library For All – a non-profit tech start-up that is building a digital library for the developing world. The mission of Library For All is to provide tools for individuals to learn, dream and aspire to lift themselves out of poverty. To reach those who have little or no access to books, Library For All is building a digital library and educational platform, designed for low bandwidth environments.
What is the inspiration behind ‘Library For All’ and how did you get involved?
The story for me began when I was 17 years old, when I was given the amazing opportunity to take a scholarship and volunteer for a year as a teacher in Uganda. It sounds cliché, but that year changed my life. I still remember the look on the kids’ faces in my primary 4 class – they were so eager to learn. Even when they were tired or hungry they would still copy down their work intently, and always asked for homework. They loved homework! One day I brought an inflatable globe into the classroom – I will never forget how their eyes opened wide as they saw all of the countries of the world. I realized then the power of knowledge: it expands children’s horizons and gives hope of a better future out of poverty.
The inspiration for Library For All came eight years later when I met Rebecca McDonald in New York. Rebecca had been working in Haiti for three years and came up with the idea of delivering ebooks via mobile phone networks in response to the widespread lack of access to books that she had witnessed in schools across the country. I knew immediately that Rebecca was onto something and I quit my job to work with her full time on bringing Library For All to life.
What exactly is ‘Library For All’ and how does it work?
The Library For All platform we are building is a digital library that brings together ebooks from publishers with Open Source content in one simple, searchable library. The content in the Library is being curated for the local context. What is unique about the Library is that we are working on a local network topology to ensure that the ebook files can be downloaded even in low bandwidth environments. The Library will also be device agnostic, so it can be accessed by our partner schools in developing countries on a range of devices, including low-cost tablets, mobile phones, laptops or computers.
A lot of thought has gone into how to address the specific pain points faced by individuals in low-income, low-bandwidth communities, to enable them to gain access to ebooks and digital educational resources.
Which communities have you worked with so far on this project?
This October we will pilot the platform at one school in Haiti called Respire Haiti School, located in a community called Gressier. New York University is our research partner, and we will be working together to evaluate the effectiveness of the model, and find a way to scale it sustainably. We already have 60 schools across Haiti who have asked for access to the Library and in 2014 our goal is to pilot in two other developing countries in Africa or Asia.
What challenges have you faced?
A lot! Firstly, this hasn’t really been done before, so it was initially an uphill struggle gaining support from some of the larger funders to enable us to found Library For All. That is why we decided to do a Kickstarter funding because we knew that it provides the kind of entrepreneurial platform where ideas like ours really gain traction. And thankfully it did as we just raised $100,000 in the first 35 days of our campaign!
What do you most need to make this initiative become a reality for children around the world?
I think that we need a movement of individuals and organizations coming together to face this challenge of the unequal distribution of knowledge. No one organization is going to change the face of global education, because the challenge is huge: 260 million children in the developing world do not have access to a single book and 50% of schools in sub-Sahara have few or no books at all. Working through partnership and collaboration with publishers, content providers, authors, NGOs, governments, the general public and research institutions is the only way we will be able to achieve scale and reach a mass of children and adults who need access to this library.
How can our readers get involved?
Share about Library For All. Tweet, re-post and Facebook this blog and lets make it go viral!
If you would like to donate or know someone who would like to, please visit http://libraryforall.org/donate
What is the most rewarding aspect of working on such a project?
The team we have built. We are an ordinary bunch really, but it is just such a joy to go to work everyday. I know that they have my back and I have theirs. I wrote this on facebook a little while ago about what being a team means to me:
“Today, I really realized that we at Library For All have become a team, in every sense of the word. What does that mean practically? Each one of us feels personally the responsibility to bring the vision to life and work towards it as if it depended on us alone. But then we look around us and we realize that we are not alone. Our efforts complement each other; less like a relay race, and more like the waves upon the beach with each wave rushing a little higher up the shore than the last, buoyed by the relentless tide of excitement, joy and good favour over this project.”
Where do you hope ‘Library For All’ will be in five years from now?
In five years from now I hope Library For All will have reached at least five million children in five countries across the developing world. That is in our Five-year strategic plan and that is what we are working towards. Of course, knowing our team and with the support we have from the public so far, I think we could blow this goal out of the water!
Tanyella was talking to Annabelle King
