TIWACT was created through collaboration between students from Japan, Taiwan, and Malawi who shared a concern about unequal access to educational opportunities. While many young people recognize global inequality, they often lack structured ways to take action. At the same time, our Malawian partners witnessed classmates leaving school despite strong motivation, mainly due to limited learning resources and weak reading environments.
Through this collaboration, we identified a key barrier: limited access to reading materials and the absence of functional systems that support reading culture in schools. In many classrooms, students struggle to understand textbooks and exams because they have few books at home.
Even when libraries exist, they are often unused, with thousands of books remaining idle due to lack of management systems and limited teacher capacity.
We also observed strong student curiosity when books are accessible. Students actively choose what to read and show strong motivation to learn. However, this potential is not sustained without structure.
TIWACT was created to bridge this gap by activating existing school resources, building sustainable reading systems, and empowering students to take ownership of learning. Through collaboration between students, teachers, and communities, we aim to transform unused libraries into active learning ecosystems that foster long-term literacy and opportunity.
TIWACT operates as a student-led literacy ecosystem that transforms existing school resources into sustainable reading environments through three integrated components: library activation, teacher capacity building, and student leadership.
First, we reactivate underused school libraries by organizing books into accessible systems and introducing the Koha library management system to track borrowing and returns. This ensures accountability and efficient use of large book collections.
Second, we support schools with a trained facilitator for one year to initiate reading activities such as workshops, storytelling sessions, and spelling bees. At the same time, we train teachers to independently run these activities so that schools can continue without external support.
Third, and most distinctively, we implement a Student Librarian system inspired by Japan’s child librarian model. 30 students are trained to manage books, recommend reading materials, and lead peer reading activities, shifting ownership from teachers to students and creating a self-sustaining reading culture.
Early evidence shows library usage reaching to above 90% of the whole school, stronger student participation in reading activities, and improved engagement with English learning. Teachers report reduced workload in library management, while students demonstrate greater confidence and motivation. The model is low-cost, adaptable, and does not rely on advanced infrastructure.
Over the past 2–3 years, TIWACT has grown from a university student initiative into a structured literacy model implemented in primary schools in Malawi. What began as reading workshops for around 200 students has expanded into a whole-school ecosystem integrating libraries, teacher training, and student leadership. The model now reaches over 3,000 students and has activated more than 5,000 books that were previously unused.
A key achievement has been the revival of a dormant school library, now fully integrated into school life. Through simple systems and training, reading time has been embedded into the curriculum. We have also implemented a Student Librarian system with 30 trained students who manage books and lead peer reading activities.
Schools are increasingly able to run reading activities independently, showing early sustainability. To support scaling, we are currently conducting a comprehensive needs assessment across ten primary schools in Mzimba North to identify gaps and adapt the model to different contexts.
Over the next 2–3 years, we aim to scale across multiple regions in Malawi, reaching over 10,000 students. We are developing a replicable implementation toolkit and strengthening impact measurement to support sustainable expansion.
Initially, TIWACT focused on English reading workshops led by local and international members. While these created short-term engagement, we observed that their impact was not sustained without continuous learning systems.
To address this, we shifted from a workshop-based model to a structured, school-integrated library system. This included reactivating dormant libraries, introducing the Koha library management system for book circulation, and embedding reading activities into daily school routines.
We also reduced dependency on external facilitators by establishing the Student Librarian system. By training 2–3 students per grade to manage daily library operations and lead peer engagement, we created a self-sustaining, student-driven model.
Additionally, we integrated pen-pal exchanges between Malawian and Taiwanese students into the library system to strengthen motivation for English learning and global connection, particularly addressing the Standard 5 transition.
This shift transformed TIWACT into a sustainable, locally owned model embedded within school systems.
Schools or organizations interested in adopting TIWACT should first assess existing library resources and student reading needs. We then support the setup of a basic library system (including Koha where possible), train Student Librarians, and introduce structured reading activities.
Contact us at tiwact@gmail.com or via social media to begin implementation.
