North Hennepin Community College Bookstore

Posted by admin on 09.08.2006 at 6:53 am

The North Hennepin Community College Bookstore in Brooklyn Park, MN is an avid supporter of the Better World Books donation program.  Tom Curtis, the Inventory/Freight/Web Ordering Specialist sent us this link to their website featuring the BWB program.

Please see below for an excerpt from an article featuring the bookstore’s BWB book drive effort which appeared in the Summer 2006 North Hennepin Community College class catalog.

“This year, during the spring buyback program, the bookstore collected 24 boxes of books – more than 1200 pounds – from students, staff and faculty. “It was a great donation for a worthy program,” said Jeanne Kiel, Bookstore Supervisor. “We’re hoping to send regular shipments of books to Better World Books, not just at buyback time.”

www.nhcc.edu Summer Magazine 2006 page 11

Have your say » | Tagged Show Us Some Love, Uncategorized, book drive, bookstore, campus, Minnesota, North Heenepin Community College, Show Us Some Love

International Literacy Day: Message from Kofi Annan

Posted by admin on 09.08.2006 at 12:37 am

UNITED NATIONS
THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

MESSAGE ON INTERNATIONAL LITERACY DAY
8 September 2006

Literacy sustains development. That is the theme of this year’s International
Literacy Day. It recognizes that higher literacy rates are essential to economic growth,
poverty eradication, social participation and environmental protection. It reminds us that
literacy is the platform for developing a society’s human resources.

Literacy begins with primary education, and achieving universal primary schooling
by 2015 is one of the Millennium Development Goals. Yet primary education does not
reach every child; there are more than 100 million girls and boys who never enrol in
school. Even for those who are enrolled, the quality of primary schooling may be so poor
that it leads to only a fragile command of basic literacy skills. And while official statistics
put the number of illiterate adults at more than 770 million, that figure does not include
the millions more who are ill-equipped to deal with everyday needs of learning,
understanding and communicating.

Clearly, in many parts of the world, development has not yet delivered one of its
most important outcomes — more literate and better educated populations. At the same
time, those societies are being robbed of the crucial tool for development which literacy
represents — a tool that enables people to take advantage of new learning opportunities,
respond to changing occupational demands, undertake greater responsibilities, build their
way out of poverty and protect themselves against disease — especially HIV/AIDS.
Women and girls who are deprived of literacy lack a vital weapon in freeing themselves
from inequality and discrimination. As we are reminded by the overall theme of the
United Nations Literacy Decade (2003-2012), literacy is freedom.

The precious gift of literacy can sustain development only if it is itself sustained –
by post-literacy programmes, further opportunities for education and training, and the
creation of “literate environments” in which literacy can thrive. On this International
Literacy Day, let us pledge to step up national and international efforts for improved
literacy levels worldwide. Let us give literacy a real chance to transform individuals and
societies around the world.

Kofi A. Annan

Have your say » | Tagged Uncategorized, Kofi Annan, literacy, united nations

Phi Theta Kappa Breaking News Article

Posted by admin on 09.05.2006 at 6:34 am

This past Friday, September 1st, Garon Tate of Phi Theta Kappa released a breaking news article regarding the Better World Books book drive partnership.

One highlight from the article are the results of the PTK spring book drive campaign:

“192 chapters have already collected 90,000 books, which will add up to approximately $35,000 in funds for these Phi Theta Kappa chapters.”

Check out the article on the PTK website to see photos of PTK’s Garon Tate and Brandi McNeil on their visit to the BWB collection center.

Have your say » | Tagged Our Partners, Uncategorized, Impact, Phi Theta Kappa

Leaving Microsoft to Change the World

Posted by admin on 09.05.2006 at 6:26 am

Dear Friends of Better World Books and Literacy,

We are excited to announce that John Wood, Founder and CEO of one of our partner organizations, Room to Read, has written and published a book detailing how he left Microsoft and started Room to Read.  As you know, Room to Read is an award-winning organization dedicated to providing children across the developing world with an opportunity to gain the lifelong gift of education.  Better World Books has raised over $150,000 for Room to Read over the past two years from our book drives and online book sales.

The Book is called Leaving Microsoft to Change the World, and it is available to buy now!  Room to Read has partnered with Giveline, Inc. (www.giveline.com/roomtoread) so that the margin from purchasing this book will be donated directly back to Room to Read.  The book is also available on Amazon, Barnes&Noble, and Borders sites.

Leaving Microsoft details John’s incredible journey from corporate executive to social entrepreneur.  John was once a rising executive at Microsoft.  He thought he had it all: the big paycheck, the corporate apartment, and proximity to legendary software giant Bill Gates.  However, in 1998, he took a vacation that changed his life.

While trekking in the Himalayas, John visited a rural Nepali school and was confronted by the harsh reality faced by millions of children in the developing world — there were no books in the library!

As John left the village that day, the headmaster made a simple request: “Perhaps, Sir, you will some day come back with books.”  This request became a mission, one which John has dedicated “the second chapter of his adult life” to fulfilling:  changing the world one book and one child at a time by setting up schools and libraries across the developing world.

As of July 2006, Room to Read has opened nearly 3,000 libraries with 2 million books, set up over 2000 girls with long term scholarships, and opened nearly 200 schools.   Nearly a million children now have the opportunity to gain the lifelong gift of education.  To learn more visit: www.leavingmicrosoftbook.com and www.roomtoread.org.

The team at Better World Books has read John’s memoir and we highly recommend it.  Publishers Weekly agrees – in a starred review, they described the book as “an infectiously inspiring read [in which] Wood endears himself to the reader with his honesty and introspection.”

We hope that you will not only buy the book, but also share this mail with others.  Better World Books is proud to be funding the amazing work of Room to Read, and we believe that the launch of Leaving Microsoft to Change the World is a wonderful opportunity to share this story with millions of potential supporters.

Sincerely,

The Better World Books Team

Have your say » | Tagged Book & Author News, Book Reviews, Our Partners, book reviews, books, john wood, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World, room to read