Jennifer Cossins

Hello! My name is Jennifer Cossins and I'm a children's author and illustrator from Tasmania, Australia, and I'm here to raise funds to renovate a library in Bali. Why? Read on...

Several years ago, I ran Pozible campaigns to fund the self-publishing of my first two books - 101 Collective Nouns and The Baby Animal Book. Pozible allowed me to get started as a children's author/illustrator, and now I have just released my 10th book - The Ultimate Animal Counting Book!

Skip forward a few years and I was fortunate enough to be able to holiday in Bali. In our explorations, we passed a small building on the outskirts of Ubud with a sign saying Bali Children's Project. We were curious, so went inside and learned about this amazing organisation that aims to help children escape poverty through education. They run numerous programs, including the Library Support program which, as an author with a passion for children's books, caught my eye.

I learned that behind the glitz of touristic Bali, life across the majority of the island is much like the rest of Indonesia, which ranks 60 out of 61 of nations deemed to have enough statistical data for literacy. Of course, since I last visited, COVID has wreaked havoc on this small island, making the struggles of everyday people tougher yet. Many families cannot afford to send their kids to school, or equip them with school supplies to facilitate learning. I also learned that while many schools and libraries exist, they are often in very poor condition, making it even harder for kids to learn and certainly not providing a stimulating, inspiring environment despite the hard work of the teachers.

On my last visit to Bali, I took a collection of my books to donate and decided that now I was an established author, it was time to give back. I decided then that I wanted to support the renovation of a library and create a beautiful space for kids to learn - this was standard for me growing up. Now I want to give this to others who aren't so lucky.

The Library Project

I have worked closely with The Bali Children's Project to create a project that is much needed, viable and has the support of the community where it will happen.

Together, we plan to renovate the library at SDN 3 Siangan, an elementary school in Gianyar, Bali, that currently has 179 students. The parents of these students work as farmers or in the tourism industry, which is suffering greatly at the moment due to COVID. Although the library building is quite good, it’s rarely used even when there is no pandemic. The books are very old, in poor condition, all in black and white and are only lesson books (they have no story books) which are just too boring to encourage students to learn, and the decor and furniture is uncomfortable and uninspiring.

The library requires a real transformation to get students interested in learning there. We’ll make some minor building fixes, along with a full repaint of the building, inside and out. Once painting has finished, we’ll be ready to supply completely new furniture – bookcases, pillows, beanbags, seating and more.

One of the most important parts of any renovation is the murals. These are large murals which really bring libraries to life. Murals are done by local, professional artists who paint based on what children can experience through reading in the library.

Of course, no library project is complete without a full complement of books. We’ll be providing over 400 exciting and interesting books, ranging from comics to story books. The books cover categories of  Science, History, Fiction, Bilingual and more.

Over the last 3 years, Bali Children’s Project has completed dozens of library projects so I have confidence in partnering with them. The task is to completely refurbish SDN 3 Siangan’s Library. As we have seen with other projects (example in the image below), renovations will turn the library from an uninspiring, uncomfortable place to a brand new library bursting with imagination.

I have designed and produced some new products that you can get by pledging here - 100% of every dollar we earn from these products is going to this project. I have also received wonderful support from my publisher, Hachette Australia, and some fellow local authors and artists, and have donated many more of my own products to make this a success. So please check out the amazing rewards on offer here and let's make this happen! All rewards include free shipping within Australia and will be shipped out in time for Christmas so why not do some Christmas shopping for a good cause?

I'm so excited to be able to bring my community of readers together here in Australia to work together to provide these students below with an inspiring library - we know just how important education is to children and to breaking the cycle of poverty and this is one very real way we can do that!

The Bali Children's Project work with local suppliers and tradespeople, along with the school and village community, to ensure their projects are viable, sustainable and have the support of the community. 

The renovation budget for this project is approximately $6000 Australian dollars - not really that much money when you consider the difference a good library can make in the lives of these students. I've set my target at $7000 to ensure we can complete this project fully, to allow for a contingency in the budget, exchange rate fluctuations, and any other small costs that may arise along the way.

If there is any money left over, it will be donated to other programs run by the Bali Children's Project, such as their School Backpack Program and The Bali COVID Appeal. If we raise considerably more that $7000 (gotta think positively!) we will fund another school project in Bali, as there are many more schools like this one that could also use our help!

Thanks so much for your support - together we can change the lives of these students!