Books on wheels: How Funmi Ilori is reinventing libraries for children

Funmi Ilori remembers one pivotal moment of her childhood – her parents encouraging her to pick up a book to read. At the time, all she wanted to do was go out and play games with friends. From a youngster with little interest in the written word, Ilori now drives a truck fully stocked with books to communities and schools in Lagos to spread the gospel of reading to children.

As Ilori parked the brightly coloured truck in front of Christ Life School, Abule Egba, a Lagos community, a group of excited children trooped out of the premises.

It was a pleasant Wednesday morning and the iREAD Mobile Library had brought mouthwatering books to devour. The children waited patiently at the school’s entrance before hopping on the truck to choose their desired book for the week.

While this scene repeats itself every week, each delivery is something special and — even though the delighted children had no idea – it all started with a dream.

In 2003, Ilori had attended a training organised by the Daystar Leadership Academy (DLA) where participants were asked to write down a big dream that seemed unachievable. For the education psychologist and author, that BIG dream was to build the biggest library in Africa.

She decided to start her dream project with the little she had. Ilori carried her books and DVDs in baskets, moving from house to house to rent them out to whoever would have them. Soon, she realised that her core target audience was children.

Ten years later, she won a N10 million grant from the federal government’s YouWiN! programme. With this, she bought vans, a truck, and started the mobile library.

The iREAD Mobile Library currently provides essential reading materials to children in Lagos and neighbouring rural communities in south-west Nigeria.

Ilori says the mobile library charges a monthly subscription fee of N500 per child. The money is used to purchase more books and fuel the vehicles. Books are also donated by Nigerians within and outside the country, as well as foreign benefactors.

Ilori has since “impacted over 30,000 children” and aims to keep the momentum going. She says the positive response of the children is her driving force.

An avid reader herself, Ilori’s favourite book is ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ by Robert Kiyosaki.

“Readers are leaders. We ask the children: ‘I read, do you read?’ If we do not raise readers now, then we would be raising leaders without the know-how. Every citizen of Nigeria should have access to a library,” Ilori adds.

This spotlight report was done in partnership with Women Connect, a platform that showcases women doing amazing feats.