Logos Hope, a floating book fair and nonprofit organization is bringing books, and hope, to the world.
Logos Hope is bringing books by the boatload, literally. Operating since the 1970s, the nonprofit organization Good Books for All travels by sea, bringing a floating book fair to the farthest corners of the world. Their mission? To provide books, resources and hands-on help to communities with lower literacy and higher poverty rates.
GBA Ships Origins
In 1971, Good Books for All (GBA) Ships purchased their first vessel, Logos (meaning “the word” in Greek), and set sail on their maiden voyage to India where they provided books and aid to nearby villages and visitors of the ship. Over it’s 17 years of sailing, Logos traveled to 108 countries and amassed over 6 million visitors before retiring in 1988. Since then, GBA has owned and operated five ships, all with one goal: to bring books to everyone.
Logos Hope
Today, Logos Hope is GBA Ship’s primary vessel. It operates alongside a sister vessel, Doulos Hope, recently purchased in 2022 and setting sail in 2023.
Logos Hope operated as a passenger ferry boat in northern Europe from 1973 to 2003, before being purchased by GBA in 2004. Afterward, it went through extensive renovations to be in “ship-shape” for its new job as a floating book fair.
Today, the ship is operated by a large crew of volunteers from over 60 different countries who serve one or more years on the ship. Complete with a welcome area, book fair, café and educational center, alongside residential and operational areas of the ship, Logos Hope is equipped for sea travel and its visiting readers.
World Travels
Each ship remains at port for several weeks at a time, opening their gangways to thousands of visitors a day. The book fair maintains a large collection of books with varying genres and age groups available. For many visitors, it is their very first chance to interact with and take home quality books.
Since operations began in 1970, GBA Ships have traveled to more than 150 different countries, stopping at over 480 ports. More than 50 million visitors have been welcomed aboard.
More than Books
Logos Hope’s legacy goes beyond the book fair. The ship’s volunteers go into the community for outreach outside of literacy. They engage in service projects like home building, supply donations, and community aid and relief wherever possible.
The hope is that alongside their promotion of literature and provision of books, their service will have a lasting impact on the community beyond books.
To keep up with the travels of Logos Hope and Doulos Hope, you can visit their website for the most updated list of destinations or find them on social media.
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Carley Bishop
Carley is an editorial lifestyle writer and aspiring novelist. She is based in North Carolina where she resides with her husband and their puppy, Daisy, and is a proud graduate of University of South Carolina. Carley is a lifelong bookworm who enjoys reading everything from the classics to modern romances. When she's not reading or writing, she enjoys traveling, getting outside and trying new recipes at home.
