Tatiana Grossman loves to read. The 12-year-old, who will be a seventh grader at the Jewish Day School in Palo Alto this fall, is on a quest so that others can have books to read, too.

Tatiana aims to collect 1,000 children's books in 10 days and send them to a school in Botswana, Africa, that doesn't have a library.

Her effort may sound ambitious except that she has collected more than 350 books already. She smiles shyly when asked if she might top that goal of 1,000 books.

She will set up a table at the Palo Alto Children's Library when it reopens Sept. 29 after being closed for expansion and refurbishing for almost two years.

Library Manager Melinda Wing said her staff will collect donated books for Tatiana while she is in school and before Tatiana arrives each afternoon. The book drive will continue for 10 days.

Collecting used children's books for schools in Africa is part of the African Library Project, started almost two years by Chris Bradshaw of Portola Valley.

So far, Bradshaw said the project has supplied books to 93 school libraries in four African countries.

Tatiana's mom, Lauren Janov, heard of the African Library Project because Walter Hays Elementary School collected 3,000 books in its own drive. Tatiana's younger brother, Aitan, is a Walter Hays student.

Other schools and groups have pitched in, too.

But Tatiana's effort is unusual because she is doing it herself.

The bedroom in her Palo Alto home already has stacks of books sorted by category, donated by her classmates and friends. Know Knew Books in Palo Alto, which sells used books, donated more than 100. "He let me clean out his shelves," Tatiana said of the store's owner, Bill Burrus. That didn't include hardback books, which are too expensive to ship.

The Friends of the Palo Alto Library has donated books, too.

"We're short on textbooks," Tatiana said. "It's hard for them to get textbooks."

The stacks of books in her bedroom include fairy tales, chapter books and books for young children beginning to read. Someone donated a set of "Boxcar Children" books and there is a tattered copy of "Wee Sing," a book of nursery rhymes complete with music scores.

She reaches into a box of animal flash cards to pull out an example for beginning readers.

Tatiana is seeking preschool to fourth-grade books, although the books may also be read by slightly older children, too.

Botswana has the highest literacy rate in Africa, her mom said, but 20 percent of adults and 10 percent of children are illiterate.

There are also thousands of orphans in the country, which has the highest AIDS rate in Africa.

Aitan helps with the sorting, her mom said. "But Tatiana is the force behind it."

"It's terrific to see her step up and take responsibility," Bradshaw said.

Tatiana is collecting the books as part of a community service project for her upcoming Bat Mitzvah, a fitting project because of her love of reading.

A kindergarten teacher once told her what a good reader she was and that love of reading has continued.

Now, she is into fantasy novels, one of the millions of young fans of the Harry Potter books.

She's enthusiastic about the thought of collecting books for children half a world away.

"I figured out it was something I could do and wanted to do," she said. "I had a knowledge of Africa being the most needy (place) in the world, but I didn't know they didn't have any way to learn."

A large poster-board sits against the wall of her bedroom, blank. She still has to write the message on it, which will be displayed in the Children's Library at her table, asking for donations.

"This school doesn't even have a library," Tatiana said of the destination for the books. "I couldn't imagine life without reading."