The core purpose of the Book Bus is to connect children, their parents and their teachers to books and resources that will provide enjoyment, inspire curiosity and foster lifelong learning. The charity works on the principle that every child should have access to quality children’s literature; and while every child in Zambia would like to read, books are too expensive or simply don’t exist where they live.

 The Book Bus fleet and their crews distribute books, create reading corners, build libraries and work with teachers and local education authorities to measure and improve child literacy. Every Book Bus project ensures that children not only have access to books but feel inspired to read, enjoy and learn from them. Our work is helping to tackle the global literacy crisis, enabling children to gain life-changing skills so they can enjoy a brighter future and escape the cycle of poverty. 

 Every year The Book Bus sends a container of donated books and resources from the UK to Zambia. In 2020 we sent over 10,000 books and many boxes of teaching resources to help our Book Bus teams reach out to over 3200 children at 20 schools in the city of Kitwe. We are aiming to send a similar number of books and also classroom furniture that will create classroom environments that are conducive for reading. The cost of collecting and delivering these valuable resources to Zambia is £2,500. Please support this appeal and help us get another 3,200 children reading. 

Find out more about the Book Bus and see how exciting books are for children in communities where libraries are rare –https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyRSy3X2szU

We are aiming to get 10,000+ children reading by 2022 with our ‘I am a Reader’ campaign. We can’t do this without you.