At one point this semester, Laura Sologuren Sanchez had about 1,600 books in her residence hall, but none of them were hers.
The learning disabilities freshman started the student group Books for Africa when she arrived to MSU from her native Bolivia, and kept donations in a Mason Hall storage room.
The group collects new and used English-language books for all ages and donates them to organizations working to help reduce costs for building community libraries and educational centers in African countries.
"We are changing African children's lives — it's amazing," said Sanchez, who is president of the group. "We are helping people who need help and that is what we should do."
Today marks the beginning of a campuswide book drive. The end of the semester was chosen because many students are discarding textbooks and cleaning out their residence hall rooms before heading home for break, said Sanchez.
In the past three months, Books for Africa, which consists of about 15 members, has collected about 1,600 books through a neighborhood book drive.
The donations are then sent to the national Books for Africa organization in St. Paul, Minn., to be boxed and shipped to 26 different countries in Africa.
Sanchez said her boyfriend started the first student chapter of the organization three years ago at George Washington University.
There are about five chapters at universities across the country, including MSU.
The national organization was founded in 1988 after former publisher Tom Warth traveled to Uganda and had visited a recently constructed library without any books, said Ginger Wagne, program associate for development.
"There was a need and desire for literacy but there weren't books," she said. "People I have known in Africa would like access to education — the best way to do that is through books."
Since the nonprofit organization was founded, more than 3 million books have been sent to Africa, with an average of 75,000 books sent per month.
When the books arrive in Africa, a nongovernmental organization distributes the books to English-speaking organizations that have requested them.
Political theory and constitutional democracy junior Claire Knittel became involved in the student group after she purchased a book online through Better World Books, an organization that assists Books for Africa's financial costs, because a single shipment can cost up to $9,500.
"I'm interested in changing literacy rates abroad and it's a problem that a lot of people don't address," Knittel said.
"Knowing that I can have a direct impact by collecting books and helping raise money is cool."
