Books For Africa is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to collecting, sorting, shipping, and distributing books to children and adults in Africa. With headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA, and warehouses in St. Paul and Atlanta, Georgia, BFA's mission is to end the book famine in Africa. Books For Africa is the largest shipper of donated text and library books to the African continent, shipping over 28 million books to 49 different countries since 1988. In 2012 BFA shipped 2.2 million books valued at $28.3 million to 22 African countries, with an additional 616 computers and 15 brand new law libraries.
Books For Africa has received the top rating of 4 stars from Charity Navigator.org and meets all standards set by the Charities Review Council.
In order to cover shipping costs ($10,300 to ship a 40-foot container with approximately 22,000 books to an African seaport), Books For Africa relies on donations and partners with Better World Books, a social venture company that runs book drives to raise funding for literacy-based nonprofits. Better World Books is their largest single source of funding and their largest source of post-secondary books.