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The community is invited to attend the next Rosenmeier Forum: Filling a Continent of Libraries: Books For Africa, happening at 7pm on Feb. 28 in Central Lakes College’s Chalberg Theatre, Brainerd campus. Speaking will be Pat Plonski, PhD, Executive Director of Books for Africa.
Books For Africa is the world’s largest shipper of donated school and library books to the African continent. Over the past 35 years, more than 60 million hard copies and over six million digital books have been shipped to schools, libraries and universities across Africa. Every single one of the 55 countries on the African continent have received books from Books For Africa.
Plonski will speak about how St. Paul-based Books For Africa managed to achieve this feat and, more significantly, its great impact on bringing the nations of Africa into a greater role on the world stage. Key steps along the way will be outlined in this talk, focusing on international development, international literacy, non-profit organization, partner development, and how one fully executed idea can become a reality changing lives across an entire continent.
Steve Wenzel, Executive Director of the Rosenmeier Center for State and Local Government, said, “We are pleased to have Patrick Plonski as our next Rosenmeier Forum speaker. Books For Africa has truly brought educational literacy and quality education to the people in the African nations. It is one of the greatest achievements and which has contributed to the prestige and prosperity of our African nations.”
Plonski has served since 2003 as Executive Director of Books For Africa. Books For Africa has been rated in the top three percent of all U.S. charities by Charity Navigator, partnering with organizations such as the United Nations, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Peace Corps, the U.S. Library of Congress, OPEC, Merck, the African Union, the U.S. Department of Defense, and Oprah’s Angel Network. Plonski has traveled to 48 countries in his career. He has served as an Adjunct Instructor at the University of Minnesota College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resources Sciences teaching coursework on world development issues.
This Forum will be streamed here: https://youtube.com/live/7LwHMSnYq6Q?feature=share
