The power of the cloud is bringing books to millions, with the help of some very savvy volunteers and technology experts. The team at Library for All, are looking to put together a vast eBook library on the cloud, that could be made available to Millions of children in developing countries. Access to paperback books can be expensive and unattainable for children in the poorest of countries. Even in areas with affluent children, the libraries are not up to par. I remember visiting the the Federal Government College (this is a high school) of Port Harcourt in Nigeria. The Library books were over 20 years old and many of the good ones had since been stolen or lost, even though they still showed up in the catalog.
So there is definitely a need for a better solution. E books are cheaper and last forever. In addition, with the fast increase in mobile connectivity in most countries, the idea of an ebook library in developing nations is very attainable. Library for All has established some great partnerships with Mobile Alliance for Greater Good , Alley NYC, NYU Stern and the Global Campaign for education.
The best part of this solution, is the platform is designed to be device independent. You will be able to access the ebooks with phones, tablets, computers etc. Library for all will be working with local NGOs to deploy the solution. The pilot program will be launched in Haiti,a place that the library for all CEO, Rebecca is very familiar with. They are currently raising money on Kickstarter. You can get more information here.
If you like what you see, go ahead and donate, you will be helping children all over the world get access to books as they……………………………Stay Mobile!