The Books & Beyond project started with a simple problem: students at the Kabwende Primary School needed books to help them learn English. When students and teachers at Indiana University (Bloomington, IN) and TEAM Schools (Newark, NJ) teamed up to tackle the problem, they wanted to find a solution that would create value in the process. Rather than hold a book drive or simply fundraise to deliver books to Rwanda, the project developed into something much greater.

Each academic year, students from Indiana University are paired with middle school and high school students from TEAM Schools in Newark, NJ. The TEAM Schools students grow up in neighborhoods where only 18% of adults pursue education beyond high school and many of them face challenges in their pursuit of an education from a young age. Once paired with an IU mentor, each TEAM student writes and illustrates a children’s story for The World is Our Home anthology. In the process, TEAM Schools students are exposed to college life and a college campus, and the IU students serve as ongoing personal and academic mentors for their partners throughout the year. Over the past four years, Books & Beyond has provided 60 college mentors for TEAM Schools students through a comprehensive, one-on-one mentoring experience. In a 2011 survey of student participants in the project, 91% of students participating in the project said that their experience had increased their desire to go to college after high school.

In addition to mentoring TEAM Schools students, Indiana University students and AmeriCorps volunteers gain valuable job skills throughout the process of creating The World is Our Home anthology each year. Students at IU edit, format, and market the anthology, as well as serving in project support roles such as documenters, fundraisers, evaluators, and leaders. This prepares a generation of college students with the real-world experience and the skills needed to compete and grow in a globalized economy as well as informing students on issues related to education, literacy, and poverty in both the US and the world.

At the end of each academic year, stories from US students are combined with stories from Rwandan students and The World is Our Home anthology is printed and delivered to the Kabwende Primary School in Kinigi, Rwanda. Here, the books are used as supplementary English language learning material as well as a means for cross-cultural exchange. Project participants in the US also receive a copy of the book each summer.

Ultimately, this project helps to improve education outcomes on a variety of levels in both the US and Rwanda through collaboration, creativity, and mentoring experiences that support students of different ages and backgrounds. Students leave the program with a greater sense of global citizenship and a better understanding of community service and engagement both locally and globally.