Books & Beyond

Igniting a reading revolution

Children enjoying story time — Children at one of our reading sessions — discovering the joy in every page.

Our Mission

To expand access to books, inspire a love of reading, and build a lasting culture of literacy among children and young people in underserved communities across Kenya.

Our Vision

A future where every child can reach a book, become a reader, and feel brave enough to imagine a life beyond whatever is around them right now. We want Books & Beyond to grow into a movement **led by children, supported by communities and connected through books** — where young people see that something as simple as sharing a book can change things for good.

Meet the Founders

Two sisters. One mission. A library for every child.

Surina Kasaku, Co-Founder of Books & Beyond

Surina Dias Kasaku

Co-Founder · Age 14 · Year 9

Premier Academy, Nairobi

📚 Avid Reader 🎤 Debater 🌍 Climate & Wildlife 💻 Web Developer 🤖 Robotics

Surina's story began with something simple: she loved books and wanted other children to experience that same joy. Together with her younger sister Keisha, she turned that idea into Books & Beyond.

At 14, Surina is an avid reader, debater and public speaker who believes young people do not have to wait until they are adults to make a difference. Her interest in climate action, wildlife and the environment has also inspired her to speak about the responsibility young people and schools have in protecting their future.

She combines this passion with her interests in technology, web development and robotics, helping to build the Books & Beyond digital platform and share the stories of the children and schools they support.

For Surina, Books & Beyond is about more than donating books. It is about one young person reaching another and showing what can happen when an idea becomes action.

Meet Surina. Hear her story. Join the movement. Help put a book into the hands of another child.

Watch Surina's Channel

Keisha Kasaku, Co-Founder of Books & Beyond

Keisha Dias Kasaku

Co-Founder · Age 12 · Year 7

Premier Academy, Nairobi

📚 Avid Reader 🎤 Debater 🎹 Pianist 🎨 Artist 💻 Web Developer

Keisha brings curiosity, energy and a big heart to Books & Beyond. An avid reader from an early age, she believes that something as simple as giving a book can open a whole new world for another child.

A passionate debater and public speaker, Keisha loves asking questions, exploring world issues and learning to use her voice for causes that matter. She is also a dedicated musician and pianist, an artist, and a young technology enthusiast with interests in web development and robotics. Together with Surina, she helped build the Books & Beyond website and continues to find creative ways to tell its story.

But what matters most to Keisha is the human connection. She loves visiting the schools, meeting the children and seeing what a donated book can mean to someone receiving it for the first time.

Through Books & Beyond, Keisha hopes to inspire other young people to discover the joy of giving and the power of kindness. Her message is simple: you don't have to be grown up to make someone else's world a little bigger.

Meet Keisha. Share her enthusiasm. Give a book. Give an opportunity. Inspire another child.

Watch Keisha's graduation speech

Behind Every Great Founder

Surina and Keisha are the faces of Books & Beyond — but two people made it all possible.

Athanas Kasaku Makundi

Father · Mentor · The support behind every journey

Accompanied the girls on every visit to Kathonzweni and helped turn their ideas into action.
Supported school visits, library installations and launch events on the ground.
Mentored the girls in video production, public speaking and written communication, helping them tell the Books & Beyond story with confidence.
Believed in their vision from the very beginning and encouraged them to keep going.

Priyadharshini Dias

Mother · The spirit behind the giving

Introduced the girls to the joy of giving from an early age — beginning simply with sharing their toys with other children.
Encouraged them to turn compassion into action and supported the growth of Books & Beyond from an idea into a wider community initiative.
Works quietly behind the scenes, supporting the planning, coordination, communication and countless details that keep the project moving.
And when website updates, presentations and project plans stretch late into the night, makes sure the girls are never doing it alone.

Together, they have given Surina and Keisha the confidence, values and support to enable young people to make a meaningful difference.

The moment that inspired us

Across rural Kenya, many children grow up without access to storybooks — but with an unshakable thirst to learn.

A visit to Kathonzweni HGM Primary School revealed there was no library at all.

"Most of our students have never read a book outside their textbooks."

— Ms. Rosina Muia, headteacher

That moment inspired us to bring knowledge, colour, and imagination into classrooms — and to give an equal chance to children like us.

When children read, they grow — and the whole community grows with them.

How it started

One question, asked on a visit to the village

We have always loved reading, and we were lucky to grow up surrounded by books.

During a visit to our father's village in Makueni County we went to Kathonzweni HGM Comprehensive School. There we met children just like us — curious, eager to learn, excited to read — but with very few books and no functioning library.

It made us ask: instead of giving one child one book, why not create something hundreds of children can share?

So we decided to help create a library. That first library sparked a bigger idea — to bring books, reading and opportunity to many more schools. And that is how Books & Beyond began.

Donated storybooks stacked on tables at home, being sorted and catalogued by hand — Where every library starts: books sorted and catalogued by hand.

How we get there

Ten libraries, and the way we build them

The mission above says what we are for. This is the working half — the goal we are chasing, the seven things we actually do, and where.

Our immediate goal

To make books easier for children to reach, and to grow a love of reading — while giving young people a real part in changing things where they live.

The seven things we do

Books & Beyond sets out to:

Collect good children's books and get them to communities that need them
Make reading materials easier for children to reach
Encourage reading for pleasure, for learning, and for growing up
Help schools and communities build reading spaces that last
Give pre-loved books a proper second life
Encourage children to lead, to serve, and to understand giving
Build friendships between children in different communities through books and shared learning

Where we are

Books & Beyond is based in Kenya. We connect donated books with children, schools and communities where good books are hard to come by.

Through partnerships, book drives and people joining in, we want to take books further than the boundaries that usually stop them.

Impact & sustainability

Libraries that grow and last

Learners reading together in a finished library, shelves full of books behind them

We do not just donate books — we help schools build libraries that can grow and last.

Access. Reaching very rural schools where many children have never owned or had access to a storybook.

Lasting infrastructure. Safe, welcoming libraries with durable shelving, furniture and dedicated reading spaces.

Reading culture. Regular access to books beyond classroom textbooks.

Library management. Cataloguing, borrowing systems and teacher peer-training so schools can run and sustain their libraries.

School ownership. Schools grow their own collections through student, parent and alumni book drives.

Keeping children safe

Safeguarding & responsible storytelling

Keeping children safe comes first in everything we do.

We always work through the schools and obtain the required approvals. Parents and guardians give consent for children to take part in photos, videos and interviews. We follow our child safeguarding, data protection and media consent process. Interactions between students are supervised and school-led, and children's personal contact details are never shared privately.

We want children to tell their own stories — safely, positively, and with dignity.

How the circle grew

Where Cities, Villages and Children Meet

A book can travel a long way. And sometimes, it can bring two children together.

1
Children helping children

Our first three projects grew with the help of our friends, families and supporters in Nairobi, including young people from our Premier Academy community.
- Kathonzweni HGM Comprehensive School
- Kwakavisi Primary School
- St. Jude Girls School
2
Then our circle became bigger

For our fourth school, the AJB Foundation in the United Kingdom joined the journey, helping us bring books and develop another library in Kathonzweni.
- Vitale HGM Comprehensive School
3
And now, across continents

Together with A is for Africa in Europe, we are beginning our fifth and sixth school partnerships.
- Makutano Primary & Junior School
- Kathonzweni AIC Boarding Primary School
Happening now

More Than Sharing Books

Our dream is to connect schools in Kathonzweni with schools in Nairobi and overseas — so that children who live thousands of kilometres apart can get to know one another.

Donate a favourite book and write a little note for the child who will read it next.

Exchange letters, stories or artwork.

Read the same book, then share what you thought about it.

Work on a project together — or one day even visit each other's schools.

We did not wait to grow up.