US Publisher’s Book Gift to Africa

By Eric Sande

Capstone, a Mankato-based children's book publisher is donating 300,000 overstock books to a nonprofit group that collects and ships books to African countries. The books will be shipped out of North Mankato in the coming months and will make their way to St. Paul, Atlanta and eventually onto container ships for Africa.

It is counted as the largest donation made by Capstone in its 20-year history and the largest received by St. Paul-based Books for Africa.

The donation is Capstone's third major gift to Books for Africa in less than two years. Last year the publisher donated 37,000 books to the organization.

Tom Warth, who founded Books for Africa in 1988, said the group has sent 23 million books to Africa over the years, including past donations from Coughlan.

“Most of the books we send are used books, so it’s really exciting to see this donation of new books,” Warth said during an event at Capstone’s warehouse in Upper North Mankato Wednesday.

The 250 fictions and non-fiction titles for kids represent the donated books, which Capstone says are worth $5 million, will be shipped to the Books for Africa warehouse in St. Paul starting on Wednesday November 24. They'll then be packed and shipped to Africa.

Warth started the organization after a vacation to Uganda, where he found empty village libraries and grade schools with few books. He says that his group has since become the world's largest shipper of books to Africa.

Books for Africa is run on donations from international partners. Sponsors pay for shipping costs and distribution to the recipient countries.

Books for Africa director Pat Plonski said most donations over the years have been primary and secondary school textbooks, but the organization also collects college level texts and leisure library books.