James Bloom is a teenager from New York City and a dual USA / South African citizen. Together with his brother Colin (also a Breadline Africa Ambassador) he co-founded Libraries for Literacy to provide greater access to books and improve literacy in South Africa. To date they have established 5 libraries at schools in South Africa (3 in partnership with Breadline Africa).
James is also the founder of African Folktales for Kids. Frustrated by the scarcity of African language children’s books, he merged his interest in folktales with his passion for literacy to create a series of early-reader folktales in African languages. So far, he has authored five African folktales that are each available in Zulu, Xhosa, Xitsonga Sepedi and English (with Sotho and Tswana versions in the works).
In collaboration with Breadline Africa, James is partnering with OneSight South Africa to provide free eyesight testing and glasses to students at the schools where he has established libraries.
Since 2018, James has taught free after-school classes to underprivileged kids at the Washington Heights Y. Each summer he returns to the South African libraries he’s established to teach literacy and promote a culture of book borrowing. In 2023 James and his brother Colin presented at the World Literacy Summit at Oxford University.
