Evaluating public policy - what to do?

Browsing the betterworldbooks site (actually ordering books) I see they are touting a Congressional resolution to spend about $2 million to ship 150 containers of used books to Africa.  The question is whether this is the right mix... I guess this will enable Books for Africa to empty their warehouse... a good thing for short term, maybe, but seems like a more thoughtful public policy would be directed at developing local book production capacity and lowering cost of relevant books in African countries... I'm of mixed mind... it isn't a zero sum game, but I wonder whether the actual cost isn't higher of shipping books, since most of them will never be read (i.e. ship 100 books for $10, and two are actually read, versus buy 2 local books for $10 and have them read 100 times...)  If FAVL had a lobbyist, we'd be doing exactly this I guess, but more oriented towards our somewhat different philosophy...  Nuance and complexity = inaction.

For many children in Africa, the gift of books truly is a gift of hope. Access to an education is one of the only opportunities young people have to end the cycle of poverty and attain a better quality of life than previous generations. Wars, economic crises, poverty, malnutrition, and illiteracy plague many areas of Africa. According to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), 40 percent of school-age children in Africa do not attend school. Forty-six million African children have never set foot in a classroom. Most African children who attend school have never owned a book of their own. In many classrooms, 10-20 students share one textbook. Many people in the United States take these educational necessities for granted, but children in Africa cherish books. Minnesota Congresswoman Betty McCollum has introduced House Resolution 3701, called "More Books For Africa," which calls for a major appropriation to ship more books to Africa. Congressman Keith Ellison (MN) is a co-sponsor. Please send this petition to your representatives and ask them to sign on to this legislation. By doing so, you will help put more books into the hands of children in Africa who are hungry to read, hungry to learn.