Bridging Communities Through Books: Hurley Scholar Brings Stories to Kenyan Students

“What's amazing about these more intensive forms of community-based learning is that the work mimics what many of our students will be doing in a workforce setting in the future — managing the logistics of project implementation from start to finish: budgeting, marketing, recruitment, partnership cultivation, and navigating all of the challenges inherent in project management,” said Program Manager for Community-Based Learning Tiffany Williams. “The experience and confidence students gain is invaluable, and at the same time, they're cultivating a stronger sense of civic responsibility as they see how their work has made an impact.”

Longbottom’s project began when Elaine Cooper Thompson, founder of Storybook Libraries, partnered with the Lake Chelan Rotary on a May 2018 trip to Kenya. Visiting schools in rural areas, Thompson discovered what passed for a library: a locked closet containing primarily old workbooks and magazines, with few storybooks meant purely for imagination and joy.

“There was just a lack of books that were meant for fun,” Longbottom says. “Not textbooks, but books like Magic Tree House — stories that let students imagine and explore.”

Thompson's response was to launch Storybook Libraries with an ambitious goal: send 1,000 to 1,500 books to each partnering school. The organization quickly gained momentum. When Longbottom heard about Storybook Libraries, she organized a book drive at her middle school that collected approximately 1,000 books. In 2023, she traveled to Kenya with Thompson and the Lake Chelan Rotary group. During that trip, Longbottom visited multiple schools that had received library support and helped establish a new library in a community center designed to provide safe, educational after-school activities for young people.

"I met a lot of great people there," Longbottom says. "My experience was amazing, but it's always really hard to grapple with morally, going in as someone from a private higher education institution and recognizing differences in privilege."

This awareness of context and complexity informs every aspect of the project. Longbottom emphasizes that Storybook Libraries works closely with school leadership in Kenya to ensure improvements align with community needs rather than imposing Western frameworks.

"The organization is really cognizant that the work we're doing is not an effort of colonization," Longbottom says. "We're not trying to bring in Western thought or ideology. We're simply providing an avenue for education and a creative outlet."

Through the Hurley Scholarship, Longbottom has organized a year-long book drive at Tacoma-area schools from primary through high school levels. Fern Hill Elementary School recently donated 2,273 books and Crescent Heights Elementary School donated 2,026 books. With additional donations coming in from other schools, local bookstores, Puget Sound professors with young children, and on-campus service groups, the collection continues to grow.

"These books were going to go somewhere, and that might be the landfill, or it could be students in Kenya," Longbottom says. "I think that's been really great for sustainability reasons as well."

Longbottom hopes to expand her outreach to the School of Education, where students might have access to age-appropriate children's books. While Longbottom initially aimed to match the 1,000 books she collected during her middle school drive, she has already collected over 4,800 books since the start of the academic year.

The work aligns closely with Longbottom's career aspirations in human rights law. Longbottom has been accepted to the University of Washington School of Law starting in Fall 2026. During her time at Puget Sound, she served as a civic engagement coordinator, working to increase student participation in civic life through voter engagement, community service, and advocacy.

"Education is a human right," Longbottom says. "In rural areas of Kenya, it's often treated as a privilege and not as a right. Students who are interested in learning really struggle to access educational institutions, whether that's because schools are miles away or because of economic barriers."

Growing up in a public education system with access to storybooks and reading materials, Longbottom views this project as a way to offer kids opportunities that should be universal. It's not just about sending books across borders; it's about affirming something fundamental about what students deserve, wherever they are.

"I want to be able to provide what I can. If that just means books, I think that's still something."

Students, faculty, and staff interested in donating books or organizing a collection drive can contact Abi Longbottom at alongbottom@pugetsound.edu. Books should be appropriate for children ages 6–14. For more information about Storybook Libraries, visit lakechelanrotary.org.