How to build 5 libraries in 2 weeks

Unbelievably it only costs £1,250 to build, kit out, supply with books and staff a library in India (for TWO YEARS).
And you can buy a donkey or bicycle drawn
library to travel around Africa for just £100.
All of this comes from GoodGifts.org, a
charitable organisation.

We launched a Twitter campaign, aimed at librarians, to try and raise enough cash to do this.
So many libraries were closing aroundthat time: why not try and open one?

Four of us came together to do this. We started a blog in January 2011, and began asking for donations.

We gave the whole thing a hashtag:
#buyalib

Between us, we exchanged:
216 emails
about the
project

10
We wrote:
blog
posts
these were viewed around 2,300 times

#buyalib
129 people
tweeted using the hashtag
resulting in 430 tweets

there was a little
controversy

100 wonderful people
donated

The most common donation
was a very generous

In just two weeks we raised a spectacular…

In just two weeks we raised a spectacular…
£2420!

HOW MUCH?!

So what is happening now?
The Rural Literacy & Health Programme in India are building an extra big library with more books, attached to a school on the edge of a slum in Mysore.

And…
The African Educational Trust have created FOUR donkey-drawn libraries to travel around Uganda, Somalia and Sudan.

“The world is full of ambient goodness just waiting for the right idea to make it happen.”
Andromeda Yelton

And if buyalib proves anything else, it’s that social media is ace…

thanks for
listening!

Images via:
Photofunia
Stock Xchange
Icon Finder
Goodgifts
Read the Buyalib blog at:
http://buyindiaalibrary.wordpress.com/
My own blog at:
www.thewikiman.org
Or buy your own library! Via:
www.GoodGifts.org

http://thewikiman.org	2296
http://www.scoop.it	653
http://paper.li	55
http://paper.li	55
http://feeds.feedburner.com	18
http://www.newsblur.com	17
http://shirtcouple.wordpress.com	13
http://a0.twimg.com	11
http://192.168.6.103:3000	11
http://www.thelibrarynews.com	5
http://www.appitive.com	5
http://abacu-mardefondo.blogspot.com	4
http://billy7181.blogspot.com	3
http://www.blogger.com	2
http://twitter.com	2
http://us-w1.rockmelt.com	1
http://us-w1.rockmelt.com	1
http://translate.googleusercontent.com	1
http://www.linkedin.com	1

How to build 5 libraries in 2 weeks

by Ned Potter

Accessibility

Categories

Upload Details

Usage Rights

19 Embeds 3,154

Statistics