Advertising Tip from Gloucester County College

Posted by admin on 11.10.2006 at 5:08 pm

This past weekend I attended the New Jersey Leadership Conference for Phi Theta Kappa hosted by Ocean County College . Every time I attend a Phi Theta Kappa conference I’m continually impressed by the student’s dedication to both academic excellence and service. Moreover, I enjoyed putting faces to names and I was so happy to meet the students I have corresponded with for the past few months. One face I was particularly eager to see was Lisa Charon of Gloucester County College . This past spring, Lisa and her chapter brought in the most qualifying books by their student population out of the participating Phi Theta Kappa chapters. Consequently, they were awarded with a free registration (about $250) for the International Conference in Nashville in April, 2007.

Lisa is incredibly passionate about literacy and after I spoke with the group she gave her own testimonial about the book drive! She shared that “working with Better World Books has been a rewarding experience.  Not only do we have the opportunity to witness the vast outpouring of generosity on our campus, but also to observe its far-reaching effects.”

Additionally, Lisa gave the group great advertising tips. Her chapter is holding a raffle in conjunction with the book drive. For every textbook a student donates they will give them a raffle ticket to be entered into a drawing for a prize to win a book store gift certificate. Out of the 660 dollars her chapter earned from last semester’s drive they are giving a 500 dollar scholarship to a deserving member and using the rest of the funds to purchase a bookstore gift certificate for their raffle. Not only will the raffle encourage more book donations, it will help to solidify their partnership with the bookstore!

Have your say » | Tagged Our Partners, Uncategorized, book drive, campus, conferences, Gloucester County College, New Jersey, Phi Theta Kappa

Get Out the Vote!

Posted by admin on 11.06.2006 at 9:10 am

Tomorrow is Election Day, and everyone needs to get excited about getting out and casting their ballot.  This is an off-year election, which means only that the presidential race does not coincide with the senatorial race.  Voter turnout is typically low despite the importance of the issues on the ballot. CNN says that they are only anticipating a voter turn out around 40%.  Well, let’s see what will be on the ballot tomorrow…

35 House seats, 33 Senate seats, governorships in 36 states, not to mention thousands of state legislative and other local races. There are also other ballot initiatives in 37 states, where voters have the opportunity to voice their opinions on such issues as the minimum wage, or stem cell research.

So obviously there is a reason to get out the vote!

You see, I believe this is a travesty that so many of those who have the right to vote are not taking advantage of this opportunity to have their voice be heard.  I know you care because you are here visiting our site.  Better World Books is engaged in a socially responsible business effort to improve the literacy rate in the US and around the world.  More importantly perhaps, Better World Books seeks to empower college students who care about this issue, and give them the opportunity to make a difference.   Illiteracy is a woman’s issue, it is a poverty issue, a hunger issue, a social justice issue, etc.  Whatever your cause, wherever lies your passion, illiteracy almost definitely has an impact on that issue.

So what does your vote have to do with that?  This is an important time in US History because our nation is arguably still the single most powerful and influential country in the world, and has the capability of making a huge dent in the lives of the hundreds of millions of illiterate individuals around the world.
What this means is your vote, is more then just casting a ballot for your local races, it has an impact which resounds far beyond your hometown communities or your state, because it has an international influence.  You have a responsibility to show your support for the candidates that reflect your convictions, and who are going to best represent you and your passions.

Go tell your friends, your family, your neighbors, whomever.  Tell everyone you know to go vote.  Voting is power. 

Have your say » | Tagged Uncategorized, literacy, literacy statistics, voting

Hunger and Homelessness Conference, University of Southern California

Posted by admin on 11.04.2006 at 2:00 pm

(Posted by Better World Books alum, Natasha Harris)

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to present at the 2006 Annual Fall Hunger and Homelessness Conference at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.  This conference was attended by around 400 students from all around the country, and is actually the largest gathering of student leaders focused on hunger and homelessness issues.  I had a lot of fun, and was pleased to have the opportunity to connect with students from so many different schools.

For me, this was a singular experience because I actually attended this conference for the first time a number of years ago, when I was still a student myself.  I was, at that point, attending graduate school for Counseling.  Though I’d always been service-oriented, it wasn’t until later in my college career (very much through events like this conference) that I decided to give up the idea of counseling and focus my career in the non-profit/social venture realm.  I’ve always been very thankful to the folks at the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness for introducing me to so many caring and like-minded individuals and organizations.  Such conferences give students a great gateway into getting more involved, and are also great ways that students can raise their own awareness about different issues.  It was a landmark day for me to actually be presenting at this conference, and I was glad to see such a great turnout for Better World Books.  Thanks to all the students that attended!  We’re looking forward to working with you.

Have your say » | Tagged Uncategorized, conferences, Hunger and Homelessness, literacy statistics, Natasha, personal accounts

Bridge2Peace, Education in Sri Lanka

Posted by admin on 11.03.2006 at 4:19 pm

Recently, I had the pleasure to meet the founders of Bridge2Peace, a wonderful group of people that is working to establish quality education in Sri Lanka and around the world.

It was amazing to see what a few committed people have accomplished in the last two years, starting from scratch. They’ve established their first school, educating over 50 children in a country devastated by civil war, violence, and the tsunami disaster.

The Nevada-California region of Phi Theta Kappa has made Bridge2Peace’s mission their regional project. Many of the honors students plan to travel to Sri Lanka to teach during the summer, and several chapters are raising funds for the school’s daily operations. In support, Better World Books has pledged to donate 25 cents to Bridge2Peace, for every qualifying book received from Nev-Cal Phi Theta Kappa chapters. This will likely produce thousands of dollars in funding for the Sri Lanka school.

I’m proud to say that Better World Books can contribute to the success of this amazing project, started in response to the tsunami disaster of Dec 2004 by four passionate and inspired people.

Have your say » | Tagged Impact, Our Partners, Uncategorized, Bridge2Peace, Impact, Our Partners, Phi Theta Kappa

Promoting Literacy, Developing Leadership

Posted by admin on 11.03.2006 at 3:45 pm

Promoting literacy is not an easy endeavor for a college student. While many students enroll in college in pursuit of a degree to establish careers and enhance their own job marketability, there is a rare college student who can transport his or her psyche outside of the parallel universe that is college and consider individuals that may have not come from equally favorable economic circumstances.

Yet promoting literacy on a college campus is not all about yourself. The personal rewards one gains go beyond personal satisfaction, extending to a measure of character development and leadership practice that could not be easily attained in the classroom.

If you look at the “7 Best Habits” of effective people popularized by Stephen R. Covey, nearly all of them directly speak to skills practiced through fundraising on college campuses. Covey’s habits deal with self-mastery, considering that private victories of character will precede measurable success. His habits involve teamwork, cooperation, and effective communication. And finally, Covey’s seven habits culminate in self-mastery and lifelong character development based on core virtue.

Habit 1 — Be Proactive, take initiative. Fundraising takes time away from other activities. Proactive people are driven by values intimately tied to their sense of being. Correspondingly, those who take the time away from their own lives to empower people they will never meet do so out of a reflection of their own inner virtues.

Habit 2 — Personal leadership. Act on your principles, and lead by doing the right thing. Know your values and subsequently manage with efficiency. Develop and stick to your own personal mission.

Habit 3 — Effective personal management. Fundraising on campus, especially if in the form of book collections, requires time managing skills as well as the ability to juggle tasks between volunteers and campus entities.

Habit 4 — Think Win/Win. Develop strategies that result in the best result for all actors. When fundraising through book drives, certainly there are winners on every side.

Habit 5 — Communication is most effective when conducted with empathy. Understand an individual or organization before communicating with them. Build trust with the volunteers in your group, the administrators on your campus, and extend these relationships to all those in your personal and professional life.

Habit 6 — Synergy. Value differences and synergize. Promoting literacy is an expression that all understand themselves and the world around them. As a leader, you want to extend skills, not knowledge or assumptions. You are a facilitator, not a lecturer. In doing so, you develop your own sense of humility and reverence to the great benefits from communication.

Habit 7 — Balanced Self-Renewal. Reflect upon your actions and how they respect your own personal values. Live one habit and you increase the ability to practice the rest.

For more info check out “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen R. Covey.

Have your say » | Tagged Uncategorized, book drives, literacy, Stephen Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Friends of the Tompkins County Public Library Book Sale

Posted by admin on 11.03.2006 at 12:34 pm

Better World Books received a full truckload of books this week from the Friends of the Tompkins County Public Library in Ithaca, New York.  We are very pleased help out our “Friends” with their leftover books from the giant sale!  Over 250,000 items were up for sale during several weekends in October.  Special thanks to Maura in our logistics department and Maria from Tompkins for making this pickup possible!

Read more in theithacajournal.com

outside of the Friend’s warehouse…

volunteers ready to send the full truck to Mishawaka!

Have your say » | Tagged Uncategorized, ithaca, libraries, Tompkins County

“Because We Can, We Must”

Posted by admin on 11.01.2006 at 6:30 pm

Bono’s name tends to come up as a punchline when discussing Africa, and it is sometimes easy to forget his true passion and eloquence. This video, recorded at the TED conference, really struck home for me. For those who haven’t heard of it, the TED conference is a gathering of the movers and shakers interested in positive world change. Folks like the Google founders are regulars. TED has been gracious enough to start posting their videos on their website, and many are remarkable. You can check them out at the TED Blog.

One of Bono’s main points in this video is that collective action of the rich world in aiding Africa is necessary and urgent. It is a moral imperative, not an option. While government aid is a piece of the puzzle (and signing up for One is a step we should all take), the collective action of the sort that Better World Books organizes in support of Books For Africa is a piece too. As he says, “Because we can, we must.”

Have your say » | Tagged Our Partners, because we can we must, Bono, books for africa, philanthropy