School of Information Sciences

O’Rourke Kasali supports the creation of libraries in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Shannon O'Rourke Kasali

Shannon O'Rourke Kasali's involvement with libraries started before she arrived at Illinois for her MS/LIS degree. While working in the Democratic Republic of Congo, she witnessed the lack of accessibility to books. In response, O'Rourke Kasali crowd-funded $27,000 to purchase 27,000 books, leading to the creation of Books for Congo. Since 2016, the organization has established 16 libraries in two provinces in the country, distributing over 56,000 books and training 30 librarians.

"Based on prior experience I had in Senegal, I knew a way to get books, so I decided to do my part to support some local organizations in their dream to set up libraries," said O'Rourke Kasali. "In addition, Books for Congo has hosted writing workshops in collaboration with a publishing house to promote the publication of local stories."

O'Rourke Kasali holds a BA in political science and international studies from Illinois Wesleyan University, an MA in international development from The George Washington University, and a certificate in peace and conflict studies from Chulalongkorn University. She decided to pursue her MS/LIS with the goal of learning more in order to further develop Books for Congo.

Last year, O'Rourke Kasali worked as an apprentice at The Urbana Free Library and as a graduate hourly at the Mortenson Center for International Library Programs. She is currently the iSchool student leadership and engagement graduate assistant and serves on the Progressive Librarians Guild and the ALA Student Chapter's International Committee.

"I am most interested in the role that libraries play in community development. I am also conducting research on the role of libraries and library work in conflict and post-conflict settings, which is particularly interesting, stemming from my work in the Democratic Republic of Congo," she said.

O'Rourke Kasali recently served as a guest author for the IFLA Library Services to People with Special Needs newsletter. In her article, she discussed how Books for Congo supported their partner libraries in adapting to continue to provide services during COVID-19. 

"I would like to continue to give as much time as possible to Books for Congo because the organization is doing incredibly interesting, needed, and really fun work, and the opportunities are limitless," she said. "It's really an honor to be able to contribute to communities and a country that I have made my home."

Updated on
Backto the news archive

Related News

Get to know Jade Carthans, BSIS student

Jade Carthans is interested in how human-centered design, machine learning, and data analytics can come together to solve critical problems that impact organizations and individuals. She gained firsthand experience in these areas through internships with Microsoft and State Farm.

Jade Carthans

Ravury selected to serve on Homecoming Court

BSIS student Lauren Ravury has a new item to add to her resume: member of the 2025 Homecoming Court at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Ravury's resume is already impressive. She serves as president of the Student Alumni Ambassadors (SAA), an organization dedicated to fostering school spirit at the U. of I. Last year, she served as president of the Asian Pre-Law Association, a stint that led to her receiving the Outstanding Asian & Asian American Undergraduate Student Leader Award from the Asian American Cultural Center and the association being named the 2025 Outstanding Asian & Asian American Student Organization.

Lauren Ravury

Illini 4000 journey leaves lasting impact on Patllollu

As a member of the Illini 4000, BSIS student Riddhima Patllollu biked from New York City to San Francisco to raise awareness of cancer and raise funds for cancer research. Patllollu, a junior from New Jersey, decided to join the nonprofit organization in her freshman year to expand her worldview and mark a new chapter in her life. 

Riddhima Patllollu

iSchool to present research at TPRC 2025

iSchool faculty, staff, and students will participate in the Research Conference on Communications, Information and Internet Policy (TPRC 2025), which will be held from September 18–20 in Washington, DC.

Get to know Simit Shah, MSIM student

Simit Shah worked as a consultant for Deloitte in India before enrolling in the MSIM program to strengthen his analytical and business skills. Over the summer, he applied the knowledge gained from his iSchool coursework during an internship as a technology risk consultant at EY.

Simit Shah

School of Information Sciences

501 E. Daniel St.

MC-493

Champaign, IL

61820-6211

Voice: (217) 333-3280

Fax: (217) 244-3302

Email: ischool@illinois.edu

Back to top