Lubuto draws on the work of youth and adult volunteers in the United States to provide "complete library collections of excellent children's books, already organized" to AIDS-affected children in sub-Saharan Africa. Specifically, Lubuto works with schools in the United States to set up awareness programmes and organise teen volunteers to sort, select, organise and prepare book shipments. In the process, students learn about the circumstances of vulnerable children in Africa, as they make decisions about what books are appropriate to send. Adult volunteers oversee the students' activities, and volunteer librarians provide instruction in selecting and organising the books. To guide the volunteers and help them know more about the children, Lubuto produced a short video.

On delivery, an instant library with what organisers describe as age-appropriate books covering a wide range of subjects and levels is created. The books provide a wide range of choices for boys and girls from early childhood through age 18 whose first language is likely not English, with an emphasis on hardcover, informational books with clear, compelling illustrations. Local-language materials are also identified and obtained for the collections, and culturally appropriate materials are a key focus; librarians and experts in children's literature, also knowledgeable of Africa and its cultures, select books and build the collections. The libraries in Africa are asked to provide feedback on the materials sent, and local staff are trained to maintain the libraries and offer and evaluate services.

Organisers say the concept for the project builds on a "street kids library" that was established at the Fountain of Hope shelter in central Lusaka, Zambia. Print materials were thought to be the most appropriate media for the intended audience. These materials were offered in a facility that was "more like what would be called a 'reading room,' since materials did not circulate, nor were they cataloged". The Fountain of Hope library grew out of a programme of volunteers coming to read to children at the shelter on a weekly basis. One of the volunteers arranged for the donation of a used shipping container, which was adapted to house the library. Thousands of used and new children's books were donated from various sources in the USA and the United Kingdom (UK).

Fountain of Hope's staff say that, in addition to the 500 children who came to the shelter daily, the library was made available to children living in the neighbourhoods surrounding Fountain of Hope's facilities. The Executive Director of the centre reported that many children were able to pass the examinations for entry into secondary school because of the general knowledge they were able to pick up from the library's materials.

Though the Fountain of Hope Library was housed in a converted shipping container, the Lubuto project is working to construct facilities built for the purpose. For example, the first Lubuto library, set to open in 2007, follows the traditional layout of Zambian homesteads. It consists of 3 round thatched structures, and can house a collection of approximately 10,000 books. Privacy is a key focus on this building, and the others that are planned as part of Lubuto (in Zambia - where groundwork has been laid for libraries in Itimpi and Nabukuyu (communities near Kitwe and Monze, respectively) - and in neighbouring countries). According to organisers, to homeless children in particular this is qualitatively a very important distinction from a container-housed library (unless multiple containers are joined to become a larger space). Because the library primarily serves homeless children who are not in formal schools, and many are further stigmatised by HIV/AIDS, the opportunity to read books in a private space is valuable in itself. As in the case of Fountain of Hope, since users of the Lubuto facilities have no homes to which they can take books, the libraries must be non-circulating reading rooms.

Children, Education.

"Lubuto" is a word in the Bemba language (of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo) that signifies knowledge, enlightenment, and light.

"In countries where the language of commerce and government is English, children generally wish to learn or improve their English, even if they are still most comfortable in a different first language. Thus, fiction and non-fiction print materials, from the earliest readers through high-school level would be sought as donations."

To date, high school students in the United States have collected over 6,500 books for Lubuto.

In the future, Lubuto will include a component of working with children to document traditional stories from their culture, in local languages. These stories would be bound and preserved in the Lubuto libraries. This activity will likely involve street children transcribing stories and accounts of traditional or local cultures told by elders and storytellers, at events held at libraries. The children will use tape recorders to capture and then transcribe stories told.