Patrick Weil, president of Libraries Without Borders, discusses the work of the 501(c)(3) non-profit organization devoted to facilitating the growth of libraries in the developing world. Access to knowledge is a key factor in social and economic development. By facilitating the growth of libraries in Africa, Asia and the Americas, LWB aims to provide the knowledge that is the engine of human development.

With staff in New York and California, LWB is an office of Libraries Without Borders / Bibliothèques Sans Frontières (LWB/BSF), an international network of associations working together to promote knowledge-based development in under-served areas of the world. Created in 2007 on the initiative of Weil, LWB/BSF today has offices in France, Belgium and the United States. Together, they oversee more than 20 programs in 15 countries.

The offices of Libraries Without Borders share a threefold ambition: to support formal and informal education by assisting in the development of school and university libraries, to promote access to reading by establishing public and associational libraries and supporting local publishing and book networks, and to safeguard and promote local heritage and knowledge by helping to preserve the oral and written record.