In Liberia and Sierra Leone, there is an immense shortage of children’s books, contributing to staggering illiteracy rates. Books are basic, yet powerful. By providing a simple book, you can help girls and boys learn to read, complete their education, and build a better future. Please donate today to help develop, print and distribute 55,000 copies of 12 brand-new locally written and illustrated books.
Four out of five children in Sierra Leone sadly don’t have the foundational reading skills they need to build a solid foundation for learning in their adult life. This learning crisis looks very similar in neighbouring Liberia.
Learning to read without books is like learning to ride a bike… without a bike. Books are basic and universal tools for learning, yet so many children are struggling to learn without them. In fact, when we measured how many classrooms in participating schools had sufficient print materials for teaching reading, an astounding 94% did not.
We urgently need your support to help stack the shelves of classrooms and libraries with books, so kids have the tools they need to learn to read. Every dollar will go directly to our Teaching and Learning in Fragile Contexts (TLFC) program to help develop, print, and distribute 55,000 books.
Thank you for helping us reach our Giving Tuesday goal and funding libraries for 26 schools!
Campaign Fundraising Goal: $83,680
Total: $85,000
Watch now and see why CODE books are so special:
You can give the gift of literacy this holiday season!
$150
Gives classroom learning materials
$350
Provides books for a classroom
$900
Creates a teacher’s guide
$3,184
Provides a mobile library for a school
Together we can make a difference! Your gift will help create 55,000 great books that:
- Go to schools that are in dire need of books
- Are locally authored and illustrated, supporting local talent
- Support local publishers and distributors
- Contain culturally relevant content that kids can relate to
- Tell empowering stories and highlight gender equality
- Help 22,000 children on their way toward becoming confident and capable readers
Even though we all generally agree that books are important, we often underestimate just how much they can define our entire life. When a child is literate, they are more likely to complete their education and have better health outcomes, increased social participation, and higher-paying jobs.
For girls, literacy and education means they are less likely to marry early or against their will, and less likely to die in childbirth. They are also more likely to have healthy babies and to send their children to school. Simply put, books and education can break the cycle of poverty – what better gift is there than that?
*All gifts will be matched until our goal of $83,680 is reached. Gifts beyond that will go towards providing books and libraries for additional schools in Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Books are critical to reducing staggering illiteracy rates
0%
In sub-Saharan Africa, alone, 88% of children (ages 6 -14) – or 202 million – are not meeting minimum proficiency levels in literacy
(Source: More than Half of Children not Learning, UNESCO Institute of Statistics)
0
MILLION274 million primary school children worldwide are not learning basic foundational skills necessary to lead productive and healthy lives
(Source: Calculated based on data in The Learning Generation, Education Commission)
0%
Research conducted at participating schools in Sierra Leone showed that 94% of classrooms don’t have sufficient print materials for reading
(Source: CODE TLFC baseline assessment, 2023)