Newark High School 9th grader Andrea Malach is working to inspire a love of literacy in a rural African community, where children do not have access to books. Her goal? Collect and ship 1,000 gently used books for use by primary school students in Malawi, Africa.

This project, organized through the African Library Project organization at www.africanlibraryproject.org, helps to promote literacy in small villages. In many of these small communities, teachers may teach reading, writing, math and English without a single book to use as a resource.

“As a child, I found books much more engaging than any toy,” said Andrea. “Instead of imagining the stories my toys could play out, I imagined fantastical worlds and characters written by authors such as JK Rowling, Mary Pope Osborne, and Erin Hunter.

I couldn’t imagine a world without books.”

Andrea’s goal is to collect between 600 and 700 books for grades 1-4, and between 300 and 400 for grades 5-8 by June 15. The books should be in good condition and can be either fiction or non-fiction. She is also raising the money for shipping expenses, estimated at $500. Any surplus donations will be used to purchase books for the library.

Andrea’s family will arrange pick up of books in the Wayne County area, from individuals and organizations. She can be reached at ny_to_africa_library@ yahoo.com, or by calling/texting her family at 585 507 0870.