Our libraries feature content that is:

Open access

The content we curate is open access or we have received permission to add it to the library, meaning it can be copied and shared freely, making it easy for users to download resources to access later.

Credible + accurate

We curate content from trusted organizations to make it easy for all users to access the most reliable information available.

Relevant + localized

For information to be useful, it must be relevant, so we work with in-field partners to determine our users’ unique information needs and curate content that is relevant for them, including local textbooks, lesson plans and other materials specific to their geographic location and culture.

45,000

Resources in our collections, and counting!

We curate libraries to serve users across multiple sectors:

Agriculture Collection

Education Collections

EnglishArabic

Health Collection

Each library also contains content related to three cross-cutting themes:

Gender Equity and Inclusion

Culturally relevant educational content — including infographics, info sheets and videos — aimed at helping achieve gender equality and empowering all women and girls.

Sustainability and Climate Change

Educational resources — including lesson plans, activity sheets, fact sheets, videos and storybooks — to help learners better understand and adapt to urgent sustainability challenges like climate change.

Digital and Information Literacy

Educational resources — including videos, e-courses, activity sheets, fact sheets, lesson plans and class activities — to help learners avoid misinformation and make empowering use of digital and information resources.

How to navigate a SolarSPELL Library

Though each SolarSPELL library is localized to best serve and represent its users, they are all are organized following the same structure and navigation concepts. Hover over the plus signs on the library homepage shown here to learn more about these features. And click and drag to scroll through the resources below for a preview of some of our favorite content featured in our libraries.

Each SolarSPELL Library page features a navigation bar that helps users easily return to the homepage, find a clickable index of all of the library’s content, or learn more about SolarSPELL.
Learners can use the Search bar or click on Advanced Search to quickly find the information they’re looking for. Each resource in the General Education Topics section is carefully tagged with metadata and descriptions to help users search content by title, subject, keywords, language, creator, audience and format.
The General Education Topics section of our libraries contains resources (documents, videos and audio files) curated by our team from trusted organizations and partners. All of these resources are either open access, or we have obtained permission from the rights holders to freely share them, so users can download them to their personal devices to access later. Content in this section is organized by subject within the broader categories displayed here. All of these resources are searchable using the Search bar above.
The Modules section of our libraries contains content shared by our partners that is either more interactive or intended to be used as a unit. Some modules are offline versions or online encyclopedias, others are interactive simulations and courses, and a few are simply special collections from highly requested content partners. Because each module acts as its own mini website within the SolarSPELL library, module content does not appear within the general Search. However, many modules contain their own Search function within them.

Library creation process

Our content curation process consists of contacting and collaborating with organizations that have curated or created relevant content. With proper copyright permissions, we make this content available and downloadable via our libraries. During the library creation process, we carry out metadata tagging and keywording of every library resource, to enable search functionality and to ensure that all content is easily discoverable by library users.

We have a very diverse team of interns and staff members that consist of undergraduate and graduate students, librarians, and international development practitioners. The diverse backgrounds in our team allow us to draw knowledge from work experiences all over the world, including members that have previously served in the Peace Corps.

Digital libraries available

Middle East Education Library

Middle East Education Library

Education

Pacific Islands Education Library

Pacific Islands Education Library

Education

East Africa Education Library

East Africa Education Library

Education

East Africa Agriculture Library

East Africa Agriculture Library

Agriculture

Southern Africa Education Library

Southern Africa Education Library

Education

East and Southern Africa Health Library

East and Southern Africa Health Library

Health

A library is never finished

The SolarSPELL team strives to continuously improve our digital libraries. We gather data from the field and feedback from our library users to determine what content should be added, removed, or enhanced.The library is routinely updated with quality content to meet our library users’ information needs.

If you have content you would like to contribute to our library collections, please contact us by emailing us at [email protected].

Featured content partners

hesperian health guides logo
Voice of America logo

Our libraries also feature content from the following organizations:

  • Access Agriculture
  • The African Storybook Initiative
  • Big History Project
  • Common Sense Media — Digital Citizenship
  • Foundations for Farming
  • Global Health Media
  • The Global Library of Women’s Medicine (GLOWM)
  • Hesperian Health
  • Infonet Biovision
  • Khan Academy
  • Kiwix
  • The LEGO Foundation — Learning Through Play
  • Medical Aid Films
  • Medical Encyclopedia
  • Ministry of Agriculture & Livestock, Solomon Islands
  • Ministry of Economy South Sudan
  • Ministry of Education and Training, Republic of Vanuatu 
  • Ministry of Education Ethiopia
  • Ministry of Education, Heritage, and the Arts, Fiji
  • Ministry of Education of the Union of Comoros
  • Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Rwanda

  • Ministry of General Education South Sudan
  • Ministry of Health Tonga
  • Ministry of iTaukei Affairs (Fiji)
  • Ministry of Pacific Peoples
  • Peace Corps
  • Pan African Conservation Education (PACE)
  • Science Learning Hub
  • Scientific Animations Without Borders (SAWBO)
  • Sesame Street — Ahlan Simsim
  • SIL International
  • TEDx 
  • Ubongo
  • UNESCO
  • United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
  • University of Colorado Boulder — PhET
  • Voice of America
  • Wikimedia Foundation
  • WiRED International
  • World Health Organization
  • World’s Largest Lesson