These 10 African Titles Are Coming to Wisconsin Libraries—Here’s Why It Matters

15 regions across the state of Wisconsin in the US will increase their stock of African books thanks to an on-going partnership between Brittle Paper and the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s African Studies Program.

The initiative is called READ AFRICA. It is Supported by the U.S. Department of Education Title VI program.  Key partners include the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, the African studies Program, Brittle Paper, and Children’s Africana Book Award. The goal of READ AFRICA is to help Wisconsin libraries provide more African books for their readers.

Libraries across all 15 regions of Wisconsin will receive a curated selection of 10 books—five children’s books curated from the Children’s Africana Book Award and five young adult or adult titles curated by Brittle Paper from our 2024 100 Notable African Books list. Now in its sixth year, this influential list honors the most impactful books by Africa authors in a given year. The five adult titles that will be provided for the 15 regions are:

• Love Marry Kill by Zukiswa Warner (South Africa)
• A Mouth Full of Salt by Reem Gaafar (Sudan)
• The Incredible Dreams of Garba Dakaskus by Umar Abubakar Sidi (Nigeria)
• How to Make a Space Masquerade by Mazi Nwonwu (Nigeria)
• Bald Dandelions with Their Wishes Blown Clean Off by various East African authors

What all these titles have in common is that they were published by publishers based in Africa. We specifically wanted to support indie presses on the continent. Some Wisconsin libraries already acquire titles published by the big-five publishers. In creating the list, we wanted to select books that are not already in the Wisconsin library system and books that they are not likely to acquire given that they are published outside the US. This way we support Africa-based publishers while providing Wisconsin readers with genuinely fresh and new titles. The transcultural possibilities in that exchange is enormous.

The children’s titles being distributed are:

• Egyptian Lullaby by Zeena Pliska and Halem Aly
• The Taste of Home by Aminata Jalloh and Pervin Özcan
• Sankofa: A Culinary Story by Eric Adjepong and Lala Watkins
• Flipflopi by Linda Ravin Lodding, Dipesh Pabari, and Michael Machira Mwangi
• The Big Eyes of the Tiny Girl by Ondjaki and Carla Dias (translated by Marissa Moorman)

The READ AFRICA initiative also includes a Children’s African Story Hour, an event that introduces young readers to the rich world of African children’s literature. It is held biweekly in partnership with the Madison Public Library and the African Center for Community Development.

READ AFRICA was launched in 2021 as a series of small grants given to libraries across the state, including in rural parts of the state, to expand their stock of African books. 34 libraries received the fund and went on to buy books from a list curated by Brittle Paper. Learn more about the impact of the grants here. The current iteration makes the process of book acquisition even more streamlined so that librarians can focus on getting readers informed about the book.

Brittle Paper is proud to give back to the community through its partnership with the READ AFRICA program. African authors are writing books that are engaging, entertaining, and informative. We want to make sure that Wisconsin readers are not missing out on these books, whatever their age or reading taste.