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Founded in 2007, Bibliothèques Sans Frontières (BSF) is an international NGO that empowers vulnerable populations by facilitating their access to education, culture and information.

In more than 20 countries, BSF works with associations, libraries and public bodies to help them implement strategies for disseminating knowledge to the most disadvantaged sections of the population (the underprivileged, the excluded or those in humanitarian crisis situations).

To this end, BSF creates innovative tools, selects and produces content in 36 languages, and trains its partners to empower them in their deployment.

Some of the BSF network's flagship projects

Micro-libraries: islands of sharing and discovery in disadvantaged areas

In France, Italy and Belgium, BSF creates microlibraries to recreate social links in disadvantaged areas. Selected on the basis of a call for projects, associations, small shops, cafés or ordinary citizens receive an endowment of 1,000 books and professional support to train them to become ‘creators of links’ in their area. To date, almost 100 microlibraries have opened, in homes for refugees, in isolated villages or in working-class neighbourhoods.

Ideas Box: a mobile media library for the most difficult situations

Created by designer Philippe Starck for BSF, the Ideas Box is an ultra-portable cultural centre that can be set up in 20 minutes and can accommodate up to 50 people. It contains books, but also tablets, computers, board games, creative materials and even a cinema! Hundreds of Ideas Boxes are now being deployed around the world, in refugee camps and conflict zones, as well as in working-class neighbourhoods and isolated rural areas in Europe.

An innovative partnership with the UN to combat sexual violence

In 2022, BSF signed an unprecedented partnership with the office of Pramila Patten, the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict. The aim is to strengthen the prevention of sexual violence in conflicts and the care of victims, using BSF's innovative tools and methodologies. Deployments are currently taking place in Ukraine and the Republic of Congo, with a view to extending them to other countries in the future.

Donate your books to BSF in Switzerland: it's possible!

"The book mission": every year, BSF collects almost 800,000 books from cultural institutions, book professionals and private individuals. In September 2023, BSF launched its first collection campaign in Switzerland, in partnership with FNAC. The experiment was a success! Get ready, this campaign is back in Switzerland in September 2025!

CONTACT US TO FIND OUT MORE
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‘It's more important than ever to put education and culture back at the heart of the integration process. We need to give everyone, whatever their background, the means to rise, dream and plan for the future.’

Patrick Weil, President of BSF Switzerland

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