LFA IMPACT REPORT Q1 2016

IMPACT REPORT
Q1 2016

A LETTER FROM
OUR FOUNDERS
Welcome to Library For All’s first Quarterly
Impact Report! We are delighted to share this
report with you, our dedicated supporters,
partners, advisors, and peers.
Library For All saw tremendous growth this
quarter and achieved major milestones. In
the following pages, you will see a snapshot
of each of our current Library programs,
including updates from our latest pilot
program in Mongolia, user stories from our
programs in Haiti, Rwanda, Democratic
Republic and Cambodia, and our plans for
the months ahead.
As we hope this report demonstrates, in Q1
of 2016, we have continued to test new
ideas, pilot different models and push the
boundaries. We have encouraged our team
not to fear failure, but rather to fail fast so
that we can then find new paths forward. We
are excited by the progress we have made in
Q1 and the strategies we have put in place to
deepen and widen our impact in Q2, and we
hope you are too.
We wish you happy reading!
Rebecca McDonald, Founder and CEO
Tanyella Evans, Co-Founder and COO

A LETTER FROM
OUR FOUNDERS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
3 - Our Mission
The Problem
About Library For All
7 - Our Programs
Haiti
D.R. of Congo
Rwanda
Cambodia
Mongolia
14 - Our Product
Content
Technology

A GLOBAL ILLITERACY CRISIS
School enrollment across the
globe is at an all-time high with
91 percent
of primary school-age children
in the developing world currently
attending school.
YET…
3
Due to lack of resources in the
classroom setting
250 million
children are not learning to read
and write, even after spending four
years in school.
4

WHAT’S POSSIBLE?
If all students in low-income
countries acquired basic reading
skills by the time they finished
primary school
171 million
people could be lifted out of
poverty. Access to books in
mother-tongue language is a key
factor in increasing literacy rates.
Yet today, fewer than
40 percent
of the population has access
to books in a language they
speak or understand.
4

LIBRARY FOR ALL is a non-profit organization
building a digital library for the developing world.
5
OUR MISSION is to provide individuals with the
opportunity to learn, dream, and aspire to lift themselves
out of poverty.

OUR DIGITAL LIBRARY
6
PLATFORM &
CONNECTIVITY
• Interface that is easy-to-use and
available in local languages
• Platform that is accessible on any
low-cost device and optimized for
low-bandwidth areas, and available
to read offline
• Data that is collected through the
platform on users and books
CONTENT
• K-12 ebooks from local & international
publishers available in local and international
languages
• Local Advisory Boards of education
specialists who guide content selection
• Catalogue organized by subject matter and
grade level, and where applicable, is tagged to
the local curriculum
DISTRIBUTION
• School distribution model wherein we
partner with schools, NGOs and
governments who use Library For All to
enhance existing education programs
• Mobile distribution model wherein we
make the Library available to individuals
as a downloadable app

A SNAPSHOT OF OUR PROGRAMS
5 countries + 8,000 readers + 42 schools + 70 publishers + 3,228 books
Mongolia
Haiti
Cambodia
DRC
Rwanda
7

992 books
in Creole, French, Spanish
and English
24 schools
reading books on our
Library
36 schools
signed up for teacher
training of our Library
HAITI
“Library For All is a special program that is
being piloted at one of our partner schools. The
kids who are part of this program are in the
‘restavek system’ [as child slaves]; they don’t
have access to books at home, nor do they
really have time to focus on school as they have
chores to do all day long.
Djerry lives in a poor area and does not have
access to books or a library. At the beginning,
he couldn’t read out loud because he had low
self-esteem and a reading level deficiency. He
does not have people in his family or social
environment who can help him develop his
reading ability… Now Djerry has become so
motivated that he can’t wait for his turn to read
out loud for the class. He is making progress in
pronunciation, intonation and comprehension.
Djerry’s progress is obvious and it proves how
important Library For All is for the kids, in
particular those who are in the ‘restevek
system’ in Haiti. It positively impacts children’s
reading levels, and helps them become smarter
in school while they grow in self-esteem and
self-confidence.”
-Samuel, Child Advocate, Restavek Freedom
In Haiti, the location of our first program, a scarcity of resources greatly impacts educational outcomes. Only 15% of Haitian schools have a
functioning library. 37.9% of individuals are unable to read or write, compared to about 12% in other Latin American countries (2014 UNESCO
Report: Teaching and Learning Education For All).
Our Haitian digital library currently houses an extensive collection of digital Haitian Creole books, as well as French and English titles. The Library
is available to children in 24 schools in different regions across the country. We have had positive feedback from partners about the impact of the
Library in promoting a culture of reading amongst students and increasing the self-confidence of young readers.
During Q1, our local team in Haiti recognized that a handful of schools were struggling to pay the upfront cost for devices. As a solution, our team
have designed an NGO and Microfinance Program whereby major Haitian banks can give schools a loan to purchase the device and to install our
digital Library program. Schools will pay this back over time. Thus far the team have had extremely positive reaction to this model, and we look
forward to testing it in Q2.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
In partnership with local NGO En Classe, our Library has been implemented
across 7 schools in Kinshasa. As a result, 800 primary school students have
access to a rich collection of French books.
At the time of launch, En Classe elected to implement the offline version of our
digital library in their schools. This meant that our Library was pre-installed on
devices for their students and teachers. Though this is a helpful temporary solution
for the En Classe schools, it means that we cannot update the Library regularly, nor
can we get data back through the platform. We have learned how important it is for
us to receive data back. Without it, we cannot know how to improve the content
and the platform for our uses.
We plan to connect these schools to the online version of our Library in Q2,
allowing us to refresh the collection and to ensure that the En Classe Schools
receive the latest technology updates of our platform. Looking ahead, we will
expand our Library to the remaining 5 schools in the En Classe network, and seek
new partnerships with schools, government and NGO agencies to increase access.
120 books
Available in French
7 schools
reading books on our
Library
800 students
across 7 schools
Meet the "Aide Scholaire" at En Classe’s
schools. This is a group of dedicated teachers
who use our Library to teach their students in
class throughout the week.
10 Photos courtesy of En Classe

616 books
in Kinyarwanda and English
33,571 pages
read on our Library since
June 2015
496 readers
on our Library via the Google
Play store
RWANDA
In June 2015, our Library was released on the Rwandan Google Play Store as a
pilot of a national roll-out model. Individuals across the country are now able to
download our the Library directly from their mobile phones. To date, there are
496 individuals actively reading on our digital library via mobile phone or tablet,
with a total of 33,751 pages read.
Through our pilot, we identified that many of the devices in Rwanda lack
bandwidth to download our platform in its current form. As a result, we have
made significant enhancements to our technology that will make it more lightweight
and more accessible. We will relaunch the platform in Rwanda in Q3 and
expect to see much higher user engagement. During Q4, when school is back
in session, we will implement our school distribution model. We have already
begun forging relationships with schools and NGOs with whom we will partner.
We are excited by the initial adoption of our Library in Rwanda and recognize
the massive opportunity for scale across the country. With the right partners, we
will work to increase the ease of access to Library For All in Rwanda.
‘We have 254 students including 3 Nursery Classes
and 6 Primary classes P1-P6… Library For All was
introduced to the APIE Project Officer in UK, and
immediately identified as a useful resource for our
school environment, where we are always searching
for more school materials and books to add to our
Library. We anticipate using Library For All in class
formally and informally. As part of reading
comprehension activities, children will access
specific texts in order to read and respond to
questions related to the texts. They will also have the
opportunity to choose texts to read for pleasure and
to stimulate discussion with their classmates. It is
really exciting to have an application that provides
current texts from local publishers. Having access to
these books in Kinyarwanda gives students the
opportunity to develop their mother tongue. The
platform also seems easy to use and we are
confident that the children will be able to navigate
their way around the app independently. In a country
that is developing so rapidly, we are excited about
being at the forefront of this change and pioneering
this method of using e-readers in the classroom.”
-Amy, A Partner in Education, Umubano Primary
School
11
11

100 books
in Khmer and English
381,500 pages
read on our Library since
December 2015
4,729 readers
on our Library via 5 schools
and 2 mobile libraries
“Since the project began students who
weren’t previously active or enthusiastic
in reading are beginning to come during
their break times to read on their own.”
- Grade 6 Teacher
A student reflected in a survey after
reading ‘Tok Tok Penh Born’, a Khmer
book. “It reminds me most of myself and
my family. It made me understand how
tough it is for my parents to earn a living
and get me to school.”
CAMBODIA
- Grade 6 student
In partnership with the Asia Foundation’s Books For Asia, we made our digital library available in Cambodia in five primary schools, and
two mobile libraries in late November 2015.
To assess the need for our platform in Cambodia, we collaborated with Books For Asia on a small Book Availability Study. The purpose of
this study was to measure access to reading materials at four sample schools. Results from the study demonstrated that on average,
children at the four schools have access to approximately 14 books at home, of which only 15% are children’s books. This means that the
majority of children have less than 3 books to read at home.
Our Cambodian Library contains 50 books in English and 50 in Khmer, sourced from local publishers and NGOs.
12

MONGOLIA
We are pleased to announce that our digital library is now being used by children in
Mongolia! Our Mongolian pilot program was officially launched on 20 January 2016, in
partnership with the Asia Foundation’s Books For Asia, and the Ministry of Education,
Culture and Science. Children from grades 5-9 are using our Library across 6 different
schools in the nation’s capital, Ulaanbaatar.
Since the Mongolian launch, our technology team have pushed out several versions of
our digital platform to ensure we are providing the best user-experience for Mongolian
children. The team were challenged by rendering the interface of the platform into the
Mongolian script, as the words are significantly longer than any other language on the
platform. They worked to write new code that would allow for longer lines, and after
consulting advisors and spending hours behind their computers, they succeeded. They
are now confident that this will not be a challenge with any other language.
Since January 2016, 154,7000 pages have been read in Mongolia at 6 pilot schools. We
are excited about our prospects for scale in Mongolia.
150 books
in Mongolian and English
154,700 pages
read on our Library since
January 2016
2,500 readers
on our Library via 6 schools
These schools are in ger districts on the
outskirts of the capital, Ulaanbaatar. Half
of Ulaanbaatar’s 1.5 million residents live
in ger districts, which are occupied by
rural migrants that lack access to basic
public services like water, sewage
systems, and central heating.
13
Photos courtesy of the Asia Foundation
13

OUR PRODUCT: TECHNOLOGY UPDATES
Our overall objective in 2016 is to ensure our digital platform is available to as many children as possible; irrespective of the techresources
available to them.
PLATFORM:
We are continuing to develop a new and improved version of our Android
platform, while simultaneously supporting our existing one. We are finalizing
the browser version of our platform so children can access our library
through standard PC’s and laptops; not just tablets and smartphones.
DATA:
We are developing a statistics display that will provide us with a more robust
understanding of our impact so that we can continue to improve the Library.
CONNECTIVITY:
We have designed and deployed a HUB model to enable schools with
extremely limited connectivity to access Library For All. using a small Wi-Fi
device. The HUB is built on Raspberry Pi technology. It is a pocket-sized
device that plugs into a monitor, and is able to connect to the internet
periodically using either a USB internet stick or an Ethernet cable. Once
connected, the Hub automatically downloads new library content and
uploads reports to Library for All. When powered, the Hub creates a Wi-Fi
signal that will appear on any device within 20 meters, providing up-to-date
Library access to all users in a given classroom or school.
We successfully tested and deployed our HUB model in Haiti in early 2015.
The success of that pilot resulted in the roll out of the same model in both
Cambodia and Mongolia in Q1 of 2016.
14

OUR PRODUCT: CONTENT UPDATES
We are auditing our content across our international programs
to ensure our Library is not outdated and disengaging. Our
content strategy for 2016 includes the addition of new content
collections to ensure books remain relevant, relatable and
captivating. We are continuing to sign new, local publishers
who will both increase the number of, and diversify the books
available on our platform. Further, we are developing a range
of literacy collections that seek to tackle contemporary
international issues, including gender and health.
OUR DIGITAL LIBRARY
3,228 Educational Resources
in English, French, Creole, Spanish, Kinyarwanda,
Khmer, and Mongolian
70 publishers
contributing books to our Library
31 local Advisory Board
Members
working with our Content team to curate books for each
country’s collection
The cover illustration for Adventure of Jingenuur by
Ganchimeg B., who is one of the winners of a national
children’s storybook writing competition, hosted with
Mongolian Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the
Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. 25 of the
winning books are included in the digital library for Mongolia.
15

UNTIL
NEXT
QUARTER,
THE LIBRARY FOR ALL
TEAM