Sankofa Library
Preserving African Heritage Through Digital Literature
A cross-platform digital library celebrating African history and literature. featuring 108+ curated books, AI-powered recommendations, and a beautiful kente-inspired reading experience.
Visit SiteWhat We Were Up Against
African literary works are underrepresented in digital platforms. SmartQix set out to create a dedicated platform that not only hosts these works but celebrates the cultural heritage they represent, with a reading experience worthy of the content.
Key Pain Points
- Need for a culturally authentic design language (kente patterns, era-specific palettes)
- Cross-platform requirement: web (SEO-critical) and mobile (offline reading)
- AI-powered discovery to surface relevant works based on reader interests
- Complex content organization across historical eras, regions, and themes
- Reader experience needed to rival Kindle/Apple Books quality
- Support for multiple reading themes (light, dark, sepia) with customizable typography
How We Solved It
We built a Laravel API backend with a Next.js web frontend and React Native (Expo) mobile app, unified by a shared design system rooted in African cultural aesthetics.
What We Built
- Custom design system with kente-inspired gold palette and era-specific accent colors
- Laravel API serving both web and mobile clients with consistent data contracts
- Next.js web app with SSR for SEO and fast page loads on library/book pages
- Expo/React Native mobile app with offline reading via local SQLite cache
- AI-powered recommendation engine using reading history and preference signals
- Rich reader experience with three themes, adjustable font size, and progress tracking
- Full-text search across 108+ books with relevance scoring
Measurable Impact
Sankofa Library launched as the premier digital platform for African literary works, with both web and mobile apps receiving praise for their culturally authentic design.
A Closer Look
Library Home
Library Home
Era-based navigation with kente-inspired visual identity
Book Detail
Book Detail
Rich metadata, reviews, and chapter navigation
Chapter Reader
Chapter Reader
Distraction-free reading with theme and typography controls
Mobile Experience
Mobile Experience
Native-feel mobile app with offline reading support
Technology Stack
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