Speakers

Dr Patrick Plonski
Executive Director – Books For Africa

Biography

Patrick Plonski has served since 2003 as Executive Director of Books For Africa, the world’s largest shipper of donated text and library books to the African continent. Books For Africa has shipped over 33 million books to 49 African countries since 1988, and has partnered with organizations such as the United Nations, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Peace Corps, OPEC, and Oprah’s Angel Network. Plonski also serves as an Adjunct Instructor at the University of Minnesota, where he teaches coursework on world development problems.

Plonski holds a PhD in International Education (2009), and a Master’s Degree in History (1994) from the University of Minnesota, and a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree in History from St. John’s University (1985).  He has also studied with the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government Executive Education Program in Istanbul, Turkey (2015), at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland (1988–89), and at the University of Salzburg,  Austria (1983–84). 

Plonski has studied economic impacts on agricultural sectors of European Union enlargement in Poland, Hungary, Belgium, and Italy in 2000 and 2002, with support from a Cargill Fellowship and the University of Minnesota Human Rights Center. He is a frequent conference presenter and commentator in the media on topics pertaining to education and literacy in Africa.

Presentation Abstract

Society’s Demand for Books in Africa, and Around the World: Past, Present, and Future.

Books have been in demand around the world for thousands of years, regardless of the medium. Examples include hieroglyphics on papyrus, hand-written manuscripts on sheep-skin parchment, the string books favored by the Incas in South America, carved or removable-type printed books on paper, cheap mass-produced books on modern presses, digital books on e-readers, books on tape (or more precisely on i-phone), such as the ones that my wife enjoys listening to so much. Books have been a source of learning, record-keeping, prestige, and entertainment. It was always such, it remains so, and it will remain so in the foreseeable future … unless it doesn’t. This historic demand for books and reading continues with a force in Africa. For example, Books For Africa, the world’s largest shipper of donated books to the African continent, has shipped over 33 million donated books to 49 African countries over the past 27 years to help meet this demand. And demand across the continent remains strong. Why is this so, and how will society’s love affair with the book in Africa and around the world manifest itself in the future? These are the questions this presentation will explore.