A Canadian non-profit · Beginning in Lagos
Where every classroom has a library behind it.
The AVID Foundation refurbishes and restocks libraries in under-resourced Nigerian schools — and supports the teachers who bring them to life. We begin in Lagos.
Are you a school leader in Lagos? Apply for a library →
The need
The need
26%
of Nigerian children aged 7–14 have basic reading and numeracy skills.
UNICEF, 2024
Across Nigeria, and clearly so in Lagos, the effort to get children into classrooms is being won. The next is to get them reading — and to ensure that pupils whose families can't afford the required textbooks can borrow them from the library.
3%
Out-of-school rate at primary level in Lagos — far below the national figure. The children are already in the classroom.
5–8%
Of Nigerian government spending goes to education, against the 15–20% UNESCO recommends. School libraries are among the first things to disappear.
What they lack is behind the classroom. Read the full case for action →
What we do
Five parts. A library is not one of them — it is all five.
Books alone do not build readers. A room, a shelf, a trained adult and a timetable that gives children time to read — together, these build readers. Every school we take on receives the complete package, not a partial donation.
- 01
The space
A room fit to read in.
Flooring, ceiling, windows, lighting, ventilation, security, and wiring where it is needed.
- 02
The furniture
Built locally, repairable locally.
Shelving, tables, chairs and storage, built locally so a broken chair is mended in an afternoon.
- 03
The collection
Books children want to read.
Chosen with the school's teachers. Weighted towards Nigerian and African authors, plus reference and curriculum titles.
- 04
The systems
A catalogue the school can keep.
A catalogue, a borrowing process and labelling the school can keep up without special software.
- 05
The people
A trained adult, and time to read.
We train the staff member who will run it, help timetable reading periods, and come back.
What we build
The room, the shelves, and time to read.
Illustrated, until our first library opens. Photographs of the real thing replace these as soon as we have them.
1 / 4
A reading period. The room, the books and a trained adult, working together.
The room as we hand it back: repaired, shelved, furnished and catalogued.
The collection, chosen with each school's teachers.
Somewhere to read, and time in the timetable to do it.
Where we stand today
We publish the number before we have earned it.
A new organisation asking for money should show its books. These are our first-cohort goals and our verified progress against them, updated as each library opens.
0
Libraries refurbished
First cohort goal: 5
0
Pupils reached
First cohort goal: 4,000
0
Books placed on shelves
First cohort goal: 7,500
100%
Of spending reported to a named school
Not a target — a condition of how we disburse. Every payment is tied to a school, a receipt and a result.
Our first cohort is in progress, so these figures are honestly zero. We publish them from day one so you can watch them move — and hold us to them if they don't.
Named schools
Every library we build, named — with what changed.
Not "trust us". See for yourself. Each school appears here with its name, its photographs and one specific result.
This wall is empty, and we have left it that way on purpose.
We are selecting our first schools in Lagos now. The moment the first library opens, it appears here — school name, photographs, what it cost and what changed. Nothing goes on this wall before it is true.
How we work
Canadian governance. Local delivery. Money that moves in stages.
We are incorporated and governed in Canada and hold no separate Nigerian entity — by design. It keeps our accounting and our accountability in one jurisdiction, and puts delivery in the hands of people who live in the communities we serve.
- 01
We vet a local partner
An organisation or contractor with a verifiable record in that community.
- 02
We sign a written agreement
Scope, standards, reporting, and the conditions for releasing funds.
- 03
Funds move in stages
Transferred against agreed milestones, never as a single lump sum.
- 04
Evidence comes back at every stage
Receipts, photographs, inventory and progress reports.
- 05
We verify
Remotely as standard, and in person for a sample of projects.
- 06
The decision stays with our board
We retain authority over our resources at every point.
Ways to give
Fund something specific, and get the report on exactly that.
A shelf, a collection, or a whole library. Whatever you fund is tied to a named school, and you receive the record for it.
- Most direct
Sponsor a library
By arrangement
One school library, complete and named in your honour, with a full report.
Fund a collection
By arrangement
The book stock for one school, selected with its teachers.
Adopt a shelf
By arrangement
One named shelf in a named school, with a photograph once it is full.
A generation of Nigerian readers, one library at a time.
We begin with one school in Lagos. If our approach interests you, we would welcome a conversation about the first cohort.