Heartland Library Helps Fill the Shelves of its Kenyan Counterpart

Indianapolis, IN-The University Library at Indiana University Purdue University in Indianapolis is working with other partners in the Midwest to send books and computers to the Margaret Thatcher Library at Moi University in Eldoret, Kenya. The initiative is a part of larger collaboration between Indiana University and Moi University that began with a medical outreach program.

In the late 1980's, the Indiana University Medical School and Moi University in Kenya began a partnership that led to the launch of a new Kenyan medical school. The Moi Medical School graduated its first class of physicians in 1997, thus growing Kenya's capacity to serve its own people. In 2001, this partnership was expanded by establishing a joint program for the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. Encompassing nineteen adult and pediatric HIV/AIDS centers, the program has grown to serve over 55,000 patients. The Academic Model for the Prevention and Treatment of HIV (AMPATH) and its founder, Dr. Joe Mamlin, were both nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 and again in 2008. The powerful impact of IU Medicine's AMPATH program has led other IU groups to look for ways to contribute to the outreach effort in Kenya.

In the spring of 2007, Dean David Lewis of the IUPUI University Library travelled to Eldoret, Kenya to visit the library at Moi University, which serves a community of 20,193 students and over 3,000 staff. While the Moi Library collection of books and other resources is diverse and well cared for, it is comparatively small. In addition to books, the Moi library is in need of computers. As a result of Dean Lewis' visit, the IUPUI University Library made a commitment to help the library at Moi develop its collections and improve the technology options available on-site. IUPUI's University Library has collected computers and servers as well as more than 1,500 volumes of valuable reference resources for the library at Moi, all of which have been carefully organized and packed by volunteer students. In the fall of 2008, librarians from the Moi library travelled to Indianapolis to learn more about the IUPUI library's teaching and research programs, which focus heavily on using new technologies in the library environment.

To transport the materials to Kenya, the IUPUI University Library is collaborating with two national organizations-Better World Books, based in northern Indiana, and Books for Africa, of St. Paul, Minnesota. Books for Africa is a U.S.-based non-profit that collects books donated by publishers, schools, libraries and individuals and then sorts, ships and distributes them to libraries and youth agencies in Africa. Better World Books collects and sells books online to fund literacy initiatives worldwide. To date they've raised over $5.4 million for more than 80 literacy and education non-profit groups across the globe.

Better World has donated nearly one million books to partner programs across the globe including, Books for Africa and the National Center for Family Literacy. They have also established the Better World Books Fund to finance specific shipments of books through Books for Africa. Better World Books facilitated the IUPUI library's shipment to Moi with a $5,000 donation from this fund. From its shelves, Books for Africa will add books to those already collected for the Moi Library, focusing on fields of study that are central to the curriculum at Moi. These include, Business and Economics, Science and Engineering and Medical and Health books, among others. The total shipment to the Moi library will include about 1,000 cartons of books. Along with Better World Books and Books for Africa, a local Indianapolis business leader, Stuart's Household Moving and Storage, has also donated services and expertise to the Books for Moi project.

Indiana University has a distinguished tradition of fostering international studies, creating global outreach initiatives, and welcoming international students and faculty to its academic programs. The IUPUI University Library's cooperative effort with Moi University Library is emblematic of IU's efforts to be a leader in the international academic community. It is also a natural outgrowth of IUPUI's mission focus on service learning and civic engagement. In addition to fostering the exchange of resources and expertise, this innovative partnership creates unique research and learning opportunities for faculty and students at both universities and identifies IUPUI, as an active collaborator in the global community.

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