The Book Box project is an outreach programme of the Uganda Development Services (UDS) Library Service to extend services beyond the walls of the library. It was initiated in 2007 as a means to provide reading materials to students for boosting their performance and reading habits. Whereas government aided schools in Uganda are supported with books and other reading materials, private schools have to fend for themselves. The objectives of the UDS book box project are to ensure that pupils and teachers in private secondary schools in the remote areas of the country have access to books on the curricula and other suitable reading materials and to create a reading environment that will lead to the nurturing of a reading culture.
The project targets remote area private secondary schools and involves the selection, acquisition and processing of fifty to one hundred books suitable for all levels within the secondary school. The books range from science to arts subjects and are aimed at all pupils and teachers in a school. The boxes are sent to the schools at the beginning of the first term. Since its inception, the project has benefited 14 schools in Kamuli district. Based on the periodic monitoring carried out, the introduction of the book box project has not only improved performance, but also stimulated schools to create their own library facilities. The project has stimulated reading, creation of libraries, boosted confidence amongst the teachers with regard to reference materials, created awareness about the need in private schools and improved performance of students. For UDS, the benefits of the project have been immeasurably more than we anticipated.