Promoting Literacy and Bringing Books to Underserved Communities Worldwide
Book Donations (Free):
African Library Project https://www.africanlibraryproject.org/ – A U.S.-based nonprofit that mobilizes North American volunteers to collect and ship children’s books; creating, improving, and sustaining small libraries in rural, underserved communities across multiple African countries.
Biblionef – Biblionef works closely with under-resourced schools and local libraries that are either too far from a public library or simply do not have the resources to buy new books. We help teachers and neighbourhood librarians set up or improve their own libraries and organise reading sessions.
Biblionef South Africa – book donation for children and young people in South Africa, aged 3 to 18, living in underserved communities with no access to books.
Book Aid International – English language book donations worldwide, prepares room designated as a library, and trains library staff.
Books for Cause http://www.books4cause.com/ – book drives on campuses across the U.S. and accept books, CDs, and DVD donations in Chicago. Donations to Africa or Chicago and remaining materials are sold, given away or recycled. The sold books pay for operations and shipping expenses to Africa.
Books for Eastern Congo – Reading List on Raising Consciousness About the Challenge of the Congo
Books for Africa – ships donated books across Africa to end the “book famine,” with over 63 million books delivered since 1988.
First Book – new books (for ages 0–18) and educational resources at no cost to registered low‑income schools and programs
International Book Project – believes books change lives and has shipped over 7 million books worldwide since 1966, building lasting partnerships to promote literacy and opportunity in underserved communities.
Kids Need to Read – empowers disadvantaged children by providing inspiring book collections and literacy programs to underfunded schools, libraries, and organizations. Grants free books to underfunded schools, juvenile centers, reservations via an online application
Reading Rockets – offers a rich library of evidence-based classroom strategies to help young children become skilled readers.
The Library Project https://www.library-project.org
The Lisa Libraries – Since its founding in 1990, the Lisa Libraries has contributed over one million books to nonprofit organizations across the America.
Nabu – books to support reading in the mother tongue.
Nalibali – reading-for-enjoyment campaign in South Africa. Le Roux, Righardt. “What we become depends on what we read.”
Room to Read https://www.roomtoread.org/
Storybooks (from Transformational Leadership Center) – books may be freely downloadedE‑Books –
E-Books General (Free):
Free‑eBooks.net – 50,000+ free ebooks (fiction/non‑fiction) without requiring payment.
Internet Archive – download or borrow over 2 million books via an editable catalog.
Manybooks – free and discounted bestsellers.
Project Gutenberg – offers over 75,000 free eBooks, including classic literature in the public. domain, available to read online or download in formats like ePub and Kindle.
Getfreebooks – free legal ebooks in multiple popular genres, no registration required.
E-books for Children (free):
African Storybook https://africanstorybook.org/ – An open-access platform offering free, illustrated picture storybooks in African languages – empowering early-childhood literacy through reading, creating, translating, and adapting stories for children’s enjoyment and learning.
Book Dash – free books in languages of South Africa.
International Children’s Digital Library – promotes global understanding by providing free access to outstanding multicultural children’s books online.
Literacy Cloud (Room to Read) – hosts books and videos with local creators from around the world: 500+ professionally produced children’s books in 20+ languages, and 100+ videos of books being read aloud, library management guidelines, and more.
Project Gutenberg (Kids section) – Classics and children’s tales like Peter Pan, Little Women.
Read Aloud books – multilingual stories for children in local languages, hosted by Children’s Peace Libraries in Rwanda and used as part of the Read Aloud programs at all of the Children’s Peace Library locations.
Storyweaver – a digital repository of multilingual stories for children from Pratham Books.
TumbleBooks – Online children’s and chapter books, read‑along with audio; accessible via public‑library card.
Unite for Literacy – Unite for Literacy provides free digital picture books that celebrate diverse languages and cultures to foster a lifelong love of reading.
Waterford Mentor & Free Kids Books – Offers free online and downloadable children’s ebooks and audiobooks.
Funding (Free or No‑Cost Support):
Books for Africa – Accepts large-scale book donation requests and provides shipping support to African countries; recipients may need to pay for transport or collaborate with a sponsor.
International Book Project – Ships curated book donations globally to schools, libraries, and organizations in underserved communities, with a simple request process.
Braille Books Program (Primarily U.S.-based but can inform global efforts) – Free monthly Braille books for blind and low-vision children, provided by the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults.
Scholastic – Corporate Responsibility
Digital & Print Resources (Free Tools & Guides):
ALA. Book Donation Programs (LibGuide).
Becker, Joshua. 20 Places to Donate Used Books. October 29, 2019.
Bologna, Caroline. 10 Awesome Book Charities That Help Kids All Over The World. March 11, 2015; Updated December 6, 2017.nternational Book Project
Ships curated book donations globally to schools, libraries, and organizations in underserved communities, with a simple request process.
Calibre – Free and open-source ebook management software that allows conversion, library building, and DRM-free reading offline.
Freda – A free ebook reader for Windows and Android, supporting EPUB, MOBI, HTML, and TXT files—ideal for low-cost reading setups.
Lifewire & TechRadar Lists
Curated guides listing the best platforms for downloading free and legal ebooks.
Reading Rockets Resource List – A collection of U.S.- and internationally relevant organizations that donate books, especially for child and youth literacy initiatives.
Starting a Library:
ALA LibGuide: Book Donation Programs
Lists programs for acquiring books, including guidance on shipping, customs, and partnerships.
Peace Corps. Libraries for All! How to Start and Run a Basic Library. (2004) – A practical step-by-step guide to establishing and managing small libraries in underserved or rural communities.
Little Free Library – Offers blueprints and support to help communities set up their own book-sharing boxes worldwide; some funding and donation programs available.
TUIMP Astronomy Booklets – Offers free printable astronomy booklets in 20+ languages that can be used to diversify STEM resources in new libraries.