The Nepal Library Foundation (NLF) exists to promote literacy in Nepal. Our mandate is to support library development and work towards a national library system.

A Canadian registered charity, the foundation was established and is run by a committed group of volunteers based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Two of our Board members are Nepali born and our staff include professionals from the fields of education, engineering and medicine. We have developed a close working relationship with the Non Resident Nepali Association (NRNA), which has appointed the NLF as the agent through which libraries in Nepal are supported, and has been a major source of funding and donations.

President's Message
The past two years have seen the NLF grow from a concept to an actuality. We now have the means by which funds can be deployed to help build, stock and equip libraries in both rural and urban settings. We have built strategic partnerships, received our first grant and raised funds from donors. The current state of literacy in Nepal requires that we lobby to have library development made a top priority both in Nepal and amongst international aid donors as a means of rapidly raising the literacy rate in Nepal.

We look forward to your continuing support in making a tangible difference to people across Nepal.

What We Do
Our mandate is to support library development and work towards a national library system. We support both rural and urban libraries which are established and in development.

We recognize the importance of digital information and believe that library development needs to take place in the context of Internet access and are working on initiatives to further this. We raise funds to achieve our aims through individual and corporate donations and from foundation grants.

Why We Do It
The minimum hourly wage in Nepal (2006) is $0.11 with an equivalent purchasing power of $0.53. Under these conditions 40% of the population live under the locally defined poverty level. This fact, and the resulting inequality, has in itself helped fuel the insurgency which has only recently and tentatively been put on hold.

Eighty percent of the work force engages in subsistence farming. Literacy rates are amongst the lowest in the world. Not surprisingly, as a result of which, Nepal suffers from an acute shortage of skilled labour.

We believe that the future prosperity and peaceful development of Nepal is predicated, in part, on the ability of its people to access and use information for their benefit. We know that by supporting existing libraries and assisting in their establishment we are helpful to fulfill a basic need that exists in Nepal.

The Nepal Library Foundation is registered as a charity with the Canadian Revenue Agency GST# 884108705 RR0001.