How Much is Enough?

When it comes to books, the obvious answer is that you can never have too many. However, after many years of obsessive book collecting, foraging, squirreling, collecting and hoarding, ServeDirect book management recently moved onto another level.

Since 2008, we have shamelessly asked all our visitors to share their baggage allowance with us, bringing out books for WTA, both Connect Centres and more recently the Mobile Library Project. Most (!) people kindly agreed to do this – possibly they didn’t feel they could refuse?

In addition, many UK primary schools started to donate unwanted reading schemes, which were all perfect for the mobile libraries. The criteria for bringing books is that they are unobtainable or unaffordable in Uganda, with all other books being sourced in country. Thousands of top quality books for free are just too hard to refuse. However, using limited baggage allowance to move such heavy items, just one bag at a time, was not making any dent on the huge stock in the house.

Clearly too many books & too many boxes.

There had to be another way.

500kg of books in a gridlocked storeroom forced us to think again. After considerable research, much hesitation and too many emails, it was clear that shipping was the only option available. The huge quantity of books was becoming overwhelming. We ended up with 25 boxes of exactly 20 kg each, each one individually weighed and checked – a solid total of 500kg, enough for one full pallet. The answer came in the form of a Kent-based book charity, who could include our pallet load as part of their own shipment. 

25 boxes x 20 kg = 1 x 500kg pallet!

Unfortunately, the departure of the precious, literary cargo was 'somewhat' delayed, (thanks to the Iran situation), but is currently en route somewhere on the high seas, heading towards Mombasa in Kenya. Once the pallet reaches Kampala by road, (in landlocked Uganda), and is cleared by customs, the books will become part of the Mobile Library scheme in Gulu and in Lukomera.

Boxes and boxes of stories, poems, pictures, facts and phonics are capable of changing reading culture in the schools, one tiny book at a time. And finally, the answer still stands, ‘you can never have too many books’!

With grateful thanks to all the donating primary schools in Yorkshire, Hampshire & Birmingham, to all those who raided their own children's bookshelves, to all charity shops near & far, to Lemon & Jinja in Romsey for fundraising and to all our book mules (both willing & less willing) over the years.

Thank you, dear library lovers x