Lagos State Book Drive

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When Mrs. Omobola Johnson and her daughter Morenike visited a library in lagos earlier this year, they were shocked at what they met. Little did they know that their disappointment at the state of the library would give birth to what is today known as the Lagos State Book Drive.

"I have always loved reading and I passed the habit to my daughter early in life, so when she came home for the summer holiday, it was only natural that we visit the library to see if we could get something interesting to read", Mrs. Omobola said. "Little did we know what we would meet there, these places cannot be called libraries".
"They are more or less study centers because you can hardly get any books to read or even borrow for that matter", she opined.

The birth

Later that day, we got talking and thinking of what we could do to make a difference; this thought process led to the birth of the Lagos state book drive. I sold the idea to my daughter, who bought in immediately and agreed to co-ordinate the project. We put together a team of 9 (nine) friends (mainly friends of hers), they volunteered their time and effort to see that the project is a success.

Speaking separately, some member of the team explains further.
Tosin and Awunne on their part noted that they have done a lot, saying "our main aim is to restore the libraries to their original state, presently they are study centers. We are also raising fund for the Eko Reading Competition, the competition is organized by the Lagos library board for children within the ages of 6 to 13".

In her own contribution, Morenike Johnson explained that they have a target. She said, "We intend to raise 5000 books which will be distributed amongst the 12 libraries in Lagos state before the end the summer holiday."
Explaining further, she noted that they also intend to raise a million naira cash for the Eko Reading competition that is been organized by the libraries. So far, we have raised about 200 books but we are still expecting 20 cartoons of books from Lilian Esiri.
We are also open to donations from general public; we accept books in the following genre:

Children fiction
Law books
Business
Management
Economics
Architecture
Engineering
Biographic
Arts and humanity
Social sciences

PUBLICITY

We have been making publicity in our own little way, we sent bulk text messages to our friends and relatives, we sent letters to corporate organizations, and we have even followed up such letters with visit to hasten the process of action; we have really harassed some corporate executives, we plan to do a jingle on the radio to get the word out.

THE CHARITY SOCCER COMPETITION

The book drive charity soccer competition which you are witnessing now is also a part of the campaign. We have 8 teams (mainly friends from school and the neighbourhood). They pay to play, people also pay to come and watch, they pay for food and all the proceeds go into the fund for the Eko reading competition. People are encouraged to bring books. With 10 books you can get in to watch the tournament free.

CONSISTENCY

We hope that this will be a continuous thing. We intend to raise books for libraries outside Lagos in the future, to create awareness about reading amongst the younger generation, to restore our libraries to their original state. The charity football matches should hold every summer.

SUPPORT

People can support by donating books or cash, they can get in touch with us by Email to signify interest...
Email: bookdrive@live.co.uk