Application Form to receive books in 2012
This form may be downloaded as a Microsoft Word document (here)
or an Adobe PDF document (here).

Dear Applicant,

If you are interested in establishing a library for your community, please write to the following address for an application. Once you receive the application, complete all of the requirements listed below, document them with photographs showing the building, the interior with at least 15 bookshelves, fans, lights, tables and benches, get the signatures of your Library Board members, and then mail the completed application with photographs of completed items.

Please note: All new applicants should have Library Board of Trustees who will manage the library. Send overseas letters airmail. Applications should reach us by November 31, 2011 to be considered to receive books in 2012.

Mail this completed and signed form with photographs showing at least 15 bookshelves, benches, tables and benches, lights and fan to:
    
Books For Africa Library Project
3531 Humphrey St.
St. Louis, MO 63118 USA
(Until August 1, 2011)

    or

P.O. Box 46
Kukurantumi, E/R, Ghana
(After October 1, 2011)

Dimensions for library shelf:

    


Document One: Criteria for the recipients of books from us:


Books For Africa is a non-profit organization founded by a Ghanaian woman and her American husband, Hilda and Kirt Bromley. They receive no help from the U.S. government, but rather seek donations of books and money for shipping from friends, churches and the general public. Their budget is very small, so communities in Ghana must bear part of the cost of establishing libraries.

Books For Africa will provide donated books free of cost to those places which:

  a.
 Show widespread support among the people in residence there. Every library should have a local Board of Trustees most of whom live in the town.

b.
 Provide a building to house the library books in, and take care of the rent and maintenance on the building;

c.
 Provide at least 15 bookshelves for the books to be donated (calculate 200 books per bookshelf which is 6 feet 6 inches tall, 4 feet wide and 12 inches deep with 5 shelves in each bookshelf; each shelf of the stack should be at least 13 inches high to allow room for tall books). Evidence of the bookshelves photographed in your library building should be included in the completed application.
(Click here for a photo of a sample library stack for books)

d.
 Provide tables and benches for the public to come and sit and read; 6 tables at least 5 feet long and three feet or more wide with benches

e.
 Provide overhead fans to circulate the air and reduce mildew in the books (the more air circulating the better), and sufficient fluorescent lights.

f.
 Pay for a librarian to keep the library open at least 40 hours a week.

g.
 We recommend that the users of the library not be allowed to borrow books and take them from the library; all study and reading should be done on the premises.

h.
 The community will bear the cost of the above library structure, and the cost of transporting the items from Kukurantumi-Akim to your town, and of hosting Kirt and Hilda while they help you set up the library. Preference will be given to sites in rural areas, and to those that have widespread local management committees, and meet all the criteria above.

Send completed application with photographs and signatures to: Books For Africa Library Project, 3531 Humphrey St., St. Louis, MO 63118 USA until August 1, 2011

Or P.O. Box 46, Kukurantumi, E/R, Ghana, after October 1, 2011

Document Two: The Process of receiving books for your library


The application process consists of the following steps:

Step One: Write or e-mail Books For Africa for an Application Form. This registers you with us.

Step Two: Fill out the Application Form, complete all the requirements on the checklist and provide proof in the form of photographs of completed shelves. Send the application with Board member signatures and the photographs to Books For Africa before the application cut-off date.

Step Three: Once we have received your application with the photographs, we will send you a letter inviting two members of the Library Board of Trustees to meet with us in Kukurantumi.

Step Four: At our orientation in Kukurantumi we will make a final review of your application to confirm all of the requirements are met, and then approve you to receive books.

Step Five: Once you have received final confirmation we will ask that your Board send a Board member and a librarian to attend the in-service for all libraries held at Kukurantumi in January or February. At the annual in-service you should meet with Mr. and Mrs. Bromley to arrange a date when you will send a lorry to pick up the books.

Step Six: On the date given by the Bromleys you should bring a lorry for the loading of the books. You are responsible for paying the cost of transporting your books to your town. If your town is far from Kukurantumi, it would be a good idea to arrange with the Bromleys to come the evening before so that we load early in the morning of the day appointed to receive the books. We have a full schedule, so if you fail to appear on the date arranged, you may forfeit receiving the books in that year.

Step Seven: The Bromleys will come to your town and help place the donated books into the correct library organization. Please plan to have your Board Members meet with the Bromleys; they will discuss the Library Operation Procedures and the Dewey Decimal Cataloguing of the books. It normally takes a day and a half to set up the library depending on the number of books donated.

Step Eight: We recommend that the Library Board Members have a Grand Opening of the “new” library in order to invite all of the schools and available adults to have a tour of the new books in the library. Making the community aware of the new resource is one of the main jobs of the Library Board as they start their work.



Application for: __________________________________________ (town)


Complete and sign the application below and mail it with photographs showing at least 15 bookshelves, benches, tables and benches, lights and fan to:

Books For Africa Library Project
3531 Humphrey St.
St. Louis, MO 63118 USA
until August 1, 2011
or
P.O. Box 46
Kukurantumi, E/R, Ghana
after October 1, 2011


A. Organize a Board of Trustees for your library. Have each person state their name, address, phone number, e-mail and signature below. Try to include a board range of people who live locally. They should include a traditional ruler, a business man and woman, a male or female teacher, a member of the District Assembly and other local men and women who have an interest in maintaining a local library.


Name
 Address
 Phone
 E-mail
 Signature
1.




2.




3.




4.




5.




6.




7.




8.





Place a star next to the person who will be the contact person to us. Additional Board member names may be written on the back.

B. What are the hours of operation of the library?

C. Will there be a charge to people who use the library?


D. How will you obtain the funds to pay the librarian and rent and light for the library?


E. Describe your town and the proposed or actual site of the library in relation to other landmarks in the town, such as the chief's palace, town hall, market, secondary, or J.S.S.



Checklist items that have been completed by: (your town) _________________________


I.
 Show widespread support among the people in residence there. Every library should have a local Board of Trustees most of whom live in the town. Do you have 8 men and women who will make up your Board? ________

II.
 Provide a building to house the library books in, and take care of the rent and maintenance on the building;

Is the building or room completed and ready to be used as a library?

III.
 Provide bookshelves for the books to be donated (calculate 200 books per bookshelf which is 6 feet 6 inches tall, 4 feet wide and 12 inches deep with 5 shelves in each bookshelf; each shelf of the stack should be at least 12 inches high to allow room for tall books). Provide us with photos.

Number of bookshelves completed: _________________________


IV.
 Provide tables and benches for the public to come and sit and read; 6 tables at least 5 feet long and three feet or more wide with benches. Send photos.

Number of tables and benches built: ___________


V.
 Provide overhead fans to circulate the air and reduce mildew in the books (the more air circulating the better), and provide sufficient fluorescent lights that people can easily read by. Send photos.

Number of lights: ____________________ Number of fans: __________________

VI.
 Pay for a librarian to keep the library open at least 30 hours a week.

Name of librarian: _________________________


VII.
 Who has agreed to pay the librarian's salary? _________________________

VIII.
 We strongly recommend that the users of the library not be allowed to borrow books and take them from the library; all study and ready should be done on the premises.

Do you agree to this practice? _____________________

IX.
 The community will bear the cost of the above library structure, and the cost of transporting the items from Kukurantumi-Akim to your town, and of hosting Kirt and Hilda while they help you set up the library.

Do you agree? ___________________



Note: All the items on this list should be completed when you formally apply for books.