Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/EveryBookItsReader 2025:African Fiction Books (ID: 22894971)
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Applicant Details
edit- Main Wikimedia username. (required)
Kingaustin07
- Organization
N/A
- If you are a group or organization leader, board member, president, executive director, or staff member at any Wikimedia group, affiliate, or Wikimedia Foundation, you are required to self-identify and present all roles. (required)
N/A
- Describe all relevant roles with the name of the group or organization and description of the role. (required)
President Wikimedia Fan Club University of Ilorin
Main Proposal
edit- 1. Please state the title of your proposal. This will also be the Meta-Wiki page title.
EveryBookItsReader 2025: African Fiction Books
- 2. and 3. Proposed start and end dates for the proposal.
2025-03-05 - 2025-05-15
- 4. Where will this proposal be implemented? (required)
Nigeria
- 5. Are your activities part of a Wikimedia movement campaign, project, or event? If so, please select the relevant project or campaign. (required)
Other (please specify) EveryBookItsReader
- 6. What is the change you are trying to bring? What are the main challenges or problems you are trying to solve? Describe this change or challenges, as well as main approaches to achieve it. (required)
African fiction books are novels and short stories set in Africa, written by African authors. These works serve as a powerful medium for storytelling and preserving Africa's traditions. Through themes of identity, resilience, and cultural celebration, African authors have used fiction not only to connect readers with their cultural heritage but also to inspire social change.
Wikipedia articles about books are read by millions each year. Recently, there has been a noticeable rise in interest in African fiction books. Over the past year:
- Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart has more than 500,000 pageviews.
- Damon Galgut’s The Promise (winner of the 2021 Booker Prize) has more than 47,000 pageviews.
- Lesley Nneka Arimah’s What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky (short story collection) has over 4,000 pageviews.
These figures reflect a growing global interest in African fiction books and their representation on English Wikipedia.
However, while some African fiction books, especially from countries like Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa, are represented on English Wikipedia, significant underrepresentation exist for majority of other African countries. A review of the list of African novels on Wikipedia highlights a noticeable gap in country diversity. Similarly, African short stories books remain underrepresented, as seen in category such as African short stories.
To further explore these gaps, we curated a list of existing English Wikipedia articles about African fiction books and assessed how well they have been translated on Igbo and Yoruba language Wikipedia. Our findings revealed that only six articles have been translated into Yoruba Wikipedia, while two articles have been translated into Igbo Wikipedia. These gaps in global representation and indigenous translations limit the visibility of these important literary works.
To bridge these gaps and ensure that African fiction books are properly documented, we have outlined the following strategies:
Awareness and Advocacy Outreach: Our primary goal is to raise awareness about the underrepresentation of African fiction books on Wikipedia. We will launch campaigns through webinars, social media, and community engagements, emphasizing the importance of documenting these works. These efforts will target book readers, librarians, and the general public, inspiring collective action to bridge these gaps.
Content Creation and Translation: We will organize editing campaigns, training sessions, and edit-a-thons—both online and in-person—to train editors in creating quality articles about African fiction books. Activities will include:
- Improving existing book stubs and creating new articles for African fiction books on English Wikipedia.
- Translating articles from English into Igbo and Yoruba language Wikipedia.
- Hosting Wikidata training sessions to create detailed book items and expand Wikidata’s structured database of these books for improved searchability and retrieval.
This project will significantly improve the representation of African fiction books on English Wikipedia, Wikidata, and Igbo and Yoruba language Wikipedia. By creating, improving and translating these book articles, it will provide readers, librarians, and professionals with comprehensive overviews, plot summaries and awards. These contributions will save time and effort for the general public, making it easier to learn about these books while promoting greater global awareness of African fiction.
- 7. What are the planned activities? (required) Please provide a list of main activities. You can also add a link to the public page for your project where details about your project can be found. Alternatively, you can upload a timeline document. When the activities include partnerships, include details about your partners and planned partnerships.
1) Creating Awareness About the Event: Our strategy for raising awareness adopts an engaging approach. We will distribute digital materials—such as posters and flyers—across social media platforms and online community forums of our target audience. In addition, we will create a WhatsApp group for participants, providing a space for real-time discussions, resource sharing, and ongoing communication. This group will ensure active engagement before, during, and after the event.
2) Community Partnership and Engagement: We will collaborate and partner with the National Library of Nigeria (Lagos Chapter) and the Network of Book Clubs and Reading Culture Promoters in Nigeria (NBRP). These partnerships will help mobilize new editors for our webinars, edit-a-thons, and training sessions by leveraging their extensive networks of librarians, authors, and book lovers across Nigeria. This collaboration will also ensure sustained contributions to the EveryBookItsReader campaign.
3) Physical Training and Edit-a-Thon (Day 1): The event will begin with an interactive introduction to emphasize the significance, objectives, and expected outcomes of the event. This session will lay the groundwork for structured training sessions designed to provide participants with basic Wikipedia editing skills. Key Focus Areas:
- Improving Wikipedia Articles:
- Proper categorization of articles
- Adding reliable references and citations
- Wikilinking relevant book articles
- Adding Infoboxes
- Expanding articles by adding sections such as External links, Awards and Nominations.
The training will conclude with a guided Edit-a-Thon, where participants will apply the skills learned in real-time, editing and improving articles on these books under the guidance of experienced trainers.
4) Physical Training and Edit-a-Thon (Day 2): Building on the foundational knowledge from Day 1, this session will focus on creating new Wikipedia articles for African fiction books. The goal is to equip participants with the confidence and technical skills to produce high-quality book articles that meet Wikipedia’s standards.
Key Training Areas:
- Using Wikipedia Templates: Participants will learn to apply standard templates for fiction book articles.
- Creating New Articles: A step-by-step guide covering:
- Researching and citing reliable sources to meet notability requirements.
- Structuring articles with essential sections, including:
- Introduction: Overview of the book.
- Plot Summary: A concise storyline.
- Themes and Reception: Analysis, reviews, and cultural impact.
- Ensuring Quality: Emphasis on writing in an encyclopedic tone and adhering to Wikipedia's content policies.
Participants will then practice these skills through hands-on article creation and editing, with guidance from experienced trainers. This session ensures practical learning and contributes to bridging content gaps on Wikipedia with accuracy and confidence.
5) Virtual Training 1 (Wikidata Training): This training session is designed to equip participants with the skills and knowledge needed to create Wikidata items for African fiction books. Through a step-by-step guide, participants will learn to structure items that meet Wikidata’s standards while being introduced and trained on the use of essential Wikidata technical tools, such as:
- Relative Completeness (Recoin): Helps assess and improve the completeness of Wikidata items.
- Mix'n'Match: A tool for connecting external databases to Wikidata.
By the end of this training session, participants will feel confident and equipped to contribute effectively to Wikidata, helping to expand the structured database of African fiction books.
6) Virtual Training 2 (Translation Training): This session is designed to equip participants with the skills to translate articles about these books from English Wikipedia to Igbo Wikipedia and Yoruba Wikipedia. The training will focus on preserving accuracy, maintaining cultural relevance, and applying techniques essential for producing quality translations.
7) Contest: The event will conclude with an online contest designed to engage participants in closing the content gap. Prizes, in the form of gift vouchers, will be awarded for exceptional contributions across several categories:
- Top Three Contributors for English Wikipedia
- Top Two Contributors each from Igbo and Yoruba Wikipedias
- Best New Editor
- Outstanding Female Contributor
The contest aims to inspire ongoing participation in English Wikipedia, Wikidata, Yoruba and Igbo Wikipedia, and the EveryBookItsReader projects, motivating participants to remain active and engaged beyond the event.
- 8. Describe your team. Please provide their roles, Wikimedia Usernames and other details. (required) Include more details of the team, including their roles, usernames, Wikimedia group, and whether they are salaried, volunteers, consultants/contractors, etc. Team members involved in the grant application need to be aware of their involvement in the project.
Our local activity will be organized within a global framework, coordinated by the EveryBookItsReader global team. The global team plays a vital role by providing essential resources such as communication materials (e.g., social media cards and posts) and training resources. Key mentors for this project (Leadership Team ) are
Kingaustin07 (Project Lead) : I am an experienced Wikipedia and Wikidata trainer and editor with a proven record of leading impactful training programs within my local community, such as Art + Feminism: AfroWrites. I have also volunteered as a trainer for Wikimedia Projects, such as Wikivibrance International Youth Day 2024 and Afroculture x Afrocuisine. Based on my project organizational experience, I have co-facilitated significant projects such as AfroLiterature: Quotes from African Literature and the SheSaid 2024 Event: African Women Academics. As the project lead, will train editors on Wikipedia editing, oversee all project activities, and facilitate interactive, guided edit-a-thons during physical and online events. I will ensure participants acquire the essential skills needed to contribute effectively and achieve the project’s objectives.
B.Korlah(Co-Facilitator, English Wikipedia Trainer and Reviewer): He is an experienced Wikipedia trainer and editor and Co founder Africa & Proud. He has spearheaded major Wikipedia editing programs such as Reading Wikipedia in Classroom, Culture Connect, and Afroculture x Afrocuisine. He will collaborate with the project lead to train participants on improving and creating quality articles on African fiction books. Furthermore, he will mentor participants during the edit-a-thons to ensure effective learning and review the articles created, ensuring they meet Wikipedia standards.
Ebubechukwu1 (Co-Facilitator, Wikidata Trainer and Logistics): She is an experienced Wikidata editor, trainer, and Kiwix Ambassador who has led major training programs such as Wiki Glam Lagos and Wikipedia Awareness for Youth Corps Members. Notably, she served as Project Lead for the African Women in Education Wikiquote event, SheSaid 2023 Event in Nigeria, and SheSaid 2024: African Women Academics. In this project, she will train editors on how to create book item on Wikidata and as well train editors on the use of the target basic Wikidata Technical tools. She would be in charge of logistics during the event.
Tochiprecious (Co-facilitator and Translation to Igbo Wikipedia Trainer): She is an experienced Igbo Wikipedia editor, translator, and trainer, as well as the Co-Founder of the Igbo Wikimedians User Group. With her experience as an effective Igbo language translator on Igbo Wikipedia, she will train participants from the Igbo Wikimedia community on effective skills for translating these books into Igbo Wikipedia. Her unique combination of translation expertise and extensive training experience makes her an essential team member to the success of this event.
Aderiqueza (Co-facilitator, Translation to Yoruba Wikipedia Trainer and Wikipedia Trainer): She is an experienced Yoruba Wikipedia editor, translator, and trainer. With her expertise as an effective Yoruba language translator on Yoruba Wikipedia, she will train participants from the Yoruba Wikimedia community on the skills needed to translate these books into Yoruba Wikipedia. In addition to her role as a Yoruba Wikipedia translation trainer, she is also an experienced English Wikipedia editor and trainer, having successfully facilitated impactful projects, as documented on her Wikipedia user page. During the edit-a-thon, She will train and mentor participants, ensuring they acquire the necessary skills to contribute effectively and bridge content gaps.
- 9. Who are the target participants and from which community? How will you engage participants before and during the activities? How will you follow up with participants after the activities? (required)
Target Participants: Our target participants are book readers, librarians, authors, existing and active Wikimedia editors, and anyone interested in contributing to the EveryBookItsReader project in Nigeria and across Africa.
Recruitment and Engagement: To recruit and engage participants, we will leverage our networks, with:
- The English Wikipedia editing communities group for English Wikipedia editors.
- The Igbo Wikimedians User Group and Yoruba Wikimedians User Group for editors focused on local language translations.
- The National Library of Nigeria (Lagos Chapter) and the Network of Book Clubs and Reading Culture Promoters in Nigeria (NBRP) for recruiting new editors.
We will create and share e-flyers across these online communities to raise awareness and encourage participation. To streamline the recruitment process, we will use an online registration form for onboarding participants. A WhatsApp group will also be created to facilitate communication, provide ongoing support, and keep participants updated before, during, and after the event.
During the Event: Our team will take an active role in equipping participants with the necessary skills for successful contributions to English Wikipedia, Wikidata, and translation into Igbo and Yoruba wikipedia with focus on key areas such as article creation, improvement and proper translation. We will provide hands-on guidance to ensure participants can confidently apply these skills. The WhatsApp group will continue to serve as a collaborative platform for resolving questions, addressing challenges, and sharing feedback.
Post Event Sustainability: To sustain engagement after the event, participants would join as members of the global EveryBookItsReader campaign community, ensuring they stay informed about future projects and opportunities. The WhatsApp group will be maintained as a platform for ongoing communication, support, and mentorship. Additionally, regular virtual training sessions will be organized to refine their skills and keep them motivated, and a post-event survey will be conducted to gather feedback, assess the program's impact, and tailor future sessions to better meet the participant needs.
Through these efforts, we aim to build a supportive and active community that ensures the knowledge and skills gained are not only retained but also leveraged for future growth and impact within the Wikimedia movement.
- 10. Does your project involve work with children or youth? (required)
Yes
- 10.1. Please provide a link to your Youth Safety Policy. (required) If the proposal indicates direct contact with children or youth, you are required to outline compliance with international and local laws for working with children and youth, and provide a youth safety policy aligned with these laws. Read more here.
Our commitment to the safety and well-being of youth in our activities is paramount. We strictly adhere to the Wikimedia Youth Safety Policy, which complies with both international and local laws to safeguard young people, both online and offline.
At the beginning of each event, we will read and summarize the key points of the Wikimedia Youth Safety Policy to ensure all participants are aware of its guidelines. Additionally, we will provide copies of the youth safety plan to all attendees for easy reference. The full Wikimedia Youth Safety Policy can be accessed here
After each event, we will actively gather feedback from participants through surveys and discussions to assess the effectiveness of our safety measures and identify areas for improvement. We will also maintain communication through the WhatsApp group to provide ongoing support and address any concerns.
Our goal is to create a safe, inclusive environment for everyone involved, with the Wikimedia Youth Safety Policy serving as the foundation for promoting the well-being and protection of youth throughout our events.
- 11. How did you discuss the idea of your project with your community members and/or any relevant groups? Please describe steps taken and provide links to any on-wiki community discussion(s) about the proposal. (required) You need to inform the community and/or group, discuss the project with them, and involve them in planning this proposal. You also need to align the activities with other projects happening in the planned area of implementation to ensure collaboration within the community.
The announcement of this project has been made on the following commununity discussion pages to inform the communities about the goals and objectives of this project, and to solicit their support, comments, and recommendations through the provided links:
- 12. Does your proposal aim to work to bridge any of the content knowledge gaps (Knowledge Inequity)? Select one option that most apply to your work. (required)
Cultural background, ethnicity, religion, racial
- 13. Does your proposal include any of these areas or thematic focus? Select one option that most applies to your work. (required)
Culture, heritage or GLAM
- 14. Will your work focus on involving participants from any underrepresented communities? Select one option that most apply to your work. (required)
Ethnic/racial/religious or cultural background
- 15. In what ways do you think your proposal most contributes to the Movement Strategy 2030 recommendations. Select one that most applies. (required)
Innovate in Free Knowledge
Learning and metrics
edit- 17. What do you hope to learn from your work in this project or proposal? (required)
In this project, we aim to achieve key learning outcomes that will support both the immediate success and long-term sustainability of the project:
1. Wikipedia, Wikidata, and Translation Training Skills: Through hands-on training, we aim to improve on our skills in article creation, improvement, and translation. These skills will improve the quality of our contributions and strengthen our experience as editors and trainers, enabling us to mentor others more effectively in future Wikimedia projects.
2. Building Community Collaboration and Partnerships: We seek to learn effective strategies for collaborating with partners such as the National Library of Nigeria (Lagos Chapter) and the Network of Book Clubs and Reading Culture Promoters in Nigeria (NBRP). Building strong, lasting relationships with these communities will ensure the long-term success, growth of the project and provide foundation for ongoing engagement.
3. Developing Project Management and Leadership: As project leaders, we hope to strengthen our skills in managing the project lifecycle, including planning, time management, risk management, resource allocation, and activity coordination. These abilities will ensure smooth execution and prepare us for future projects.
4. Improving Editor Retention: We want to learn the best strategies for retaining editors by providing mentorship and ongoing support. This will help sustain long-term participation in EveryBookItsReader events, English Wikipedia, Wikidata, Igbo Wikipedia, Yoruba Wikipedia, and other Wikimedia projects.
5. Bridging Content Gaps and Understanding Challenges: We aim to assess how well we are able to bridge content gaps about African fiction books on the target Wikimedia projects. Moreover, we want to learn about the challenges faced by editors during article creation, editing, and translation. Understanding these challenges will help us design better support systems during future projects.
- 18. What are your Wikimedia project targets in numbers (metrics)? (required)
| Other Metrics | Target | Optional description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 80 | English Wikipedia Participants (Physical Trainings) and Virtual Wikidata Training: 40
New participants : 20 Returning participants : 20 Igbo Wikipedia Participants (Virtual Translation Training) : 20 Yoruba Wikipedia Participants (Virtual Translation Training) : 20 |
| Number of editors | 80 | English Wikipedia Participants (Physical Trainings) and Virtual Wikidata Training: 40
New participants : 20 Returning participants : 20 Igbo Wikipedia Participants (Virtual Translation Training) : 20 Yoruba Wikipedia Participants (Virtual Translation Training) : 20 |
| Number of organizers | 5 | There will be 5 Wikimedia volunteers facilitating and co-facilitating the event |
| Wikimedia project | Number of content created or improved |
|---|---|
| Wikipedia | 200 |
| Wikimedia Commons | |
| Wikidata | 250 |
| Wiktionary | |
| Wikisource | |
| Wikimedia Incubator | |
| Translatewiki | |
| MediaWiki | |
| Wikiquote | |
| Wikivoyage | |
| Wikibooks | |
| Wikiversity | |
| Wikinews | |
| Wikispecies | |
| Wikifunctions or Abstract Wikipedia |
- Optional description for content contributions.
The number of English Wikipedia and Wikidata items that will be created and improved during the event.
- 19. Do you have any other project targets in numbers (metrics)? (optional)
Yes
| Main Open Metrics | Description | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Igbo Wikipedia | The total number of African fiction books that will be translated from English Wikipedia into Igbo Wikipedia. | 120 |
| Yoruba Wikipedia | The total number of African fiction books that will be translated from English Wikipedia into Yoruba Wikipedia. | 120 |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
- 20. What tools would you use to measure each metrics? Please refer to the guide for a list of tools. You can also write that you are not sure and need support. (required)
1.Outreach Dashboard: Tracks: Edits, new pages, and participation rates.
2.#EveryBookItsReader2025 Hashtag: Tracks: Edits and content improvements tagged with the hashtag.
Financial proposal
edit- 21. Please upload your budget for this proposal or indicate the link to it. (required)
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jA9DXTwqVCgcDIwJvjfOwZNi-6Ej3eqDGkWfJtG3w3M/edit?gid=0#gid=0
- 22. and 22.1. What is the amount you are requesting for this proposal? Please provide the amount in your local currency. (required)
2080000 NGN
- 22.2. Convert the amount requested into USD using the Oanda converter. This is done only to help you assess the USD equivalent of the requested amount. Your request should be between 500 - 5,000 USD.
1227.2 USD
- We/I have read the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and Universal Code of Conduct.
Yes
Endorsements and Feedback
editPlease add endorsements and feedback to the grant discussion page only. Endorsements added here will be removed automatically.
Community members are invited to share meaningful feedback on the proposal and include reasons why they endorse the proposal. Consider the following:
- Stating why the proposal is important for the communities involved and why they think the strategies chosen will achieve the results that are expected.
- Highlighting any aspects they think are particularly well developed: for instance, the strategies and activities proposed, the levels of community engagement, outreach to underrepresented groups, addressing knowledge gaps, partnerships, the overall budget and learning and evaluation section of the proposal, etc.
- Highlighting if the proposal focuses on any interesting research, learning or innovation, etc. Also if it builds on learning from past proposals developed by the individual or organization, or other Wikimedia communities.
- Analyzing if the proposal is going to contribute in any way to important developments around specific Wikimedia projects or Movement Strategy.
- Analysing if the proposal is coherent in terms of the objectives, strategies, budget, and expected results (metrics).