NEWS

ProQuest providing Donkey-drawn Libraries for Africa
through Online Information Charity success

Cambridge, UK - ProQuest is pleased to report the success of our on-stand charity drive to provide Donkey-drawn libraries for schools in Somalia, Sudan and Uganda. ProQuest invited delegates of Online Information (London, 2-4 December 2008) to give generously to this important cause.  The total amount raised from delegates and ProQuest employees was then match-funded by ProQuest, allowing the company to provide six brand new Donkey-drawn libraries for Africa.

Somalia, Sudan and Uganda are all former war zones that struggle to provide their citizens with books. Each Donkey-Drawn trunk is made of steel to repel rats and termites. Padlocks are used to protect the valuable contents – around 100 volumes of fiction, non-fiction and reference books. These mobile libraries are constantly on the move, drawn by donkey or bicycle cart and taken to schools in each of these regions. As the supply is refreshed every month, children have a constant supply of a variety of books.

ProQuest’s drive for libraries in Africa has been inspired by two major initiatives being undertaken by the United Nations. These include the ‘’UNESCO Education for All’ initiative aiming to meet the learning needs of all children, youth and adults by 2015, and the ‘United Nations Literacy Decade’.  ProQuest has also taken a cue from the important work undertaken by the International Federation of Library Associations in 2007 for literacy in Africa.

www.proquest.co.uk