Libraries Without Borders (LWB US) is the US branch of Bibliothèques Sans Frontières (BSF Intl), an international nonprofit with global headquarters in Paris, France. For over a decade, we’ve worked tirelessly to promote equitable access to information and education for underserved communities across the United States. By partnering with communities, libraries, nonprofits, and local governments, we have launched programs in more than 10 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
How do we do this? In short, by transforming laundromats, housing lobbies, neighborhood parks, recreational centers, and other unexpected public spaces into places for learning and engagement. Through this approach, we literally meet people where they are—whether that’s a laundromat in the Bronx or a refugee camp in Jordan—to amplify the impact of our partners, expand community access to relevant and reliable resources, and equip individuals with the tools and training they need to provide relevant and reliable information to their communities, bridge the digital divide, reduce poverty, promote civic engagement and improve the quality of people’s lives.
On an international level, we have designed, implemented, and evaluated library programs in refugee camps, remote villages, and disaster relief contexts since 2007. In recognition of our national efforts, LWB US has been awarded the Google Impact Challenge and the Library of Congress International Literacy Award. Supporters include the National Science Foundation, US Ignite, the Institute for Museum and Library Services, the Network of the National Library of Medicine, the Media Democracy Fund, Robert W. Deutsch Foundation, Sony Corporation, Google Fiber, the Knight Foundation, the Alexander Soros Foundation, the Blandin Foundation, the Hirschhorn Foundation, and more.
