Books for Africa

Books For Africa (BFA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to collecting, sorting, shipping, and distributing books to children and adults in Africa. BFA is headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA and has warehouses in St. Paul and Marietta, Georgia. Books For Africa is the largest shipper of donated text and library books[1] to the region, shipping over 50 million books and serving all countries in Africa since 1988. In the fiscal year of 2020, BFA shipped 3.7 million books valued at over $38 million, 167 computers and e-readers containing nearly 300,000 digital books, and six law and human rights libraries to 20 African countries. More than $3.2 million was raised in the same year to ship these books to the students of Africa.[2]

In order to cover shipping costs ($11,000 to ship a 40-foot container with approximately 22,000 books to an African seaport), Books For Africa relies on donations and partners with Better World Books, a social venture company that runs book drives to raise funding for literacy-based nonprofits. Better World Books is their largest single source of funding and their largest source of post-secondary books.

Books For Africa has received nine consecutive 4-star ratings from Charity Navigator,[3] as well as a 100% rating in accountability and transparency. It meets all standards set by the Charities Review Council.[4]