Funds Raised for Global Literacy:
$4,856,147.00
Books Saved From Landfills:
13,498,011

Update: Room to Read

Posted by admin on 09.28.2007 at 7:19 am

Hey everyone, use this link to see a great page about Room to Read, a brief history and some talk about what’s going on with them today.  A must read for anyone working with them and a interesting read for anyone who would come to this blog!

RtR @ MSN news

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Update: Worldfund!

Posted by admin on 09.28.2007 at 7:14 am

The following letter is an email update from Luanne Zurlo, founder and director of Worldfund, our Latin American partner.

Dear Friends:

Worldfund is pleased to be an invited participant at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), which is currently taking place in New York City, and where I write to you from today!  Worldfund is proposing two projects at the CGI, both Mexico-focused: an intensive training program for public school teachers; and, the opening of five top-quality Mano Amiga schools in impoverished border communities.

As Worldfund’s Founder and Executive Director, I was invited by the CGI to participate in these important meetings. President Bill Clinton introduced the CGI

(www.clintonglobalinitiative.org) in 2005, as a forum for global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

The two initiatives Worldfund is presenting address the crucial educational challenges facing Mexico.   The teacher training program, a two-week intensive course designed and executed by The Rassias Foundation at Dartmouth College, will provide 250 Mexican public school educators with necessary English language instruction skills.  Current English instruction methods in Mexican schools are of poor quality; and spoken English skills are becoming increasingly vital in securing employment and hence for Mexico’s economic growth.  Our corporate partners in this program are Fundacion Televisa and Nextel Mexico.

The second initiative focuses on opening five top quality private schools in very low income Mexican border communities.  The Mano Amiga network – one of our partners in the region — already runs 28 primary and secondary schools throughout Latin America, and these five new schools will educate an additional 3,100 impoverished students over the next three years.  Mexican youth are lagging behind their international peers in education levels, and schools like Mano Amiga are critical in closing the educational gap.  The Mexican homebuilder Homex has committed to donating the land and construction of the schools, and the Mexican corporation Alfa and financial group Value are providing a portion of the funding.

As always, many thanks for your support.

Sincerely,

Luanne Zurlo Signature
Luanne Zurlo
Executive Director
World Education and Development Fund

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Exciting news from Books for Africa!

Posted by admin on 09.25.2007 at 9:23 am


Kids at desk resized-787709.jpg


[ed: The following letter is from Pat Plonski of Books for Africa to David Murphy, CEO of Better World Books, it talks about the exciting steps that BFA and BWB are taking to make more impact and make sure the money that you help raise is going to the right places!]


Hello David–

Just wanted to show you these latest numbers regarding the incredible impact being made by the Better World Books Fund of Books for Africa in just the last two and one half months. Including the container that we just sent yesterday to Ghana, the Better World Books Fund has leveraged the delivery of 13 containers of books (400,000 books) to eight countries valued at $2.3 million. We have shipped to Kenya, Tanzania, Guinea, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Algeria, and Ghana. Not bad for 12 weeks! The establishment of the Better World Books Fund has frankly transformed our shipping operation by allowing Books for Africa to leverage donations from individuals who cannot afford to pay for a full container, and by allowing us to ship to countries never before served by BFA. Book shipments at Books for Africa are up dramatically this fiscal year, and are in fact on a track to increase by at least 50% over last year.

So that’s the latest. Shipments are way up in large part to the Better World Books Fund. About half of our shipments over the past 12 weeks have been in collaboration with Better World Books. Of course, those regular payments designated for unrestricted funding (which we receive from you on a monthly basis) to underwrite our ongoing operations are also coming in very handy.

Thanks much for all you and the Better World Books team is doing. We expect to reach our goal of shipping 20 million books to Africa next year and our collaboration with BWB has been a key element in our success.

–Pat

Patrick Plonski
Executive Director
Books for Africa

Help End the Book Famine in Africa! View the BFA Story

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Smiling Faces in the Southwest

Posted by admin on 09.25.2007 at 9:12 am

AaronI thoroughly enjoyed my time on the Santa Rosa School on the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation in the Sonoran Desert.

Our day to day work at Better World Books often feels like just a regular business, so it is always exciting and enriching to be able to see the areas where the money we raise is actually used; it was a great reminder of just how necessary our work is.I spent my first day there doing landscaping around their dormitory, where many of the kids stay who come from afar. It was a hot, grueling day in the sun but definitely worth every minute of it when I saw the smiling children the rest of the week.

I was thoroughly impressed with the FACE program; it’s an innovative concept, bringing children and their guardians to the school together.  Parents and Grandparents could work on projects in one classroom, ultimately working towards getting their GED, while the children would work and play in another classroom.  All throughout the day, they had prearranged times for the children and their guardians to come together and the kids could immediately show what they were learning.  This approach that promotes education and family togetherness at the same time seems destined for success, making it enjoyable for all to come to the school daily.

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Health Literacy

Posted by admin on 09.24.2007 at 10:41 am

September 8th was the 42nd celebration of International Literacy Day. There are now close to 4 billion literate people in the world and Better World Books applauds those achievements.  There is still much to be done to promote literacy and while we strive to every day, September 8th gave us a special opportunity to try to do more.

The 2007 theme was “Literacy, key to good health and well-being”.  In conjunction, the Atlanta office sent two representatives to visit one of the new Wellness Information Zones developed in partnership by Libraries for the Future and The Humana Foundation.  These physical stations located within select libraries are aimed at reducing the number of people who have difficulty obtaining, understanding and acting on basic health information.  Through the Wellness Information Zones and www.wellzone.org people will have access to reliable health information that they can use to make positive decisions about their health.

In addition to the continuing education of our staff, Better World Books had organized a number of initiatives to commemorate the day.  From offering tips to promote literacy and discounts on purchases at www.BetterWorld.com, Better World Books hopes to bring necessary awareness to the global pandemic that is illiteracy.  As an added measure, the Library Division of Better World Books distributed a press release to targeted cities.

I encourage all of our readers, staff and supporters to think about the impact that literacy has on your own lives.  Thank those who have contributed to this gift and yourself for sharpening this tool.

“The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.” –Mark Twain

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Thank You Santa Rosa!

Posted by admin on 09.17.2007 at 1:56 pm

I’d like to weigh in briefly on the BWB trip to Santa Rosa School on the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation in the Sonoran Desert. As stated in some of the previous blog posts, The National Center for Family literacy organized this trip, and we were checking out one of their programs called FACE that stands for Family and Child Education.

I could tell you a lot of good information about FACE and the National Center for Family Literacy, or about this incredible woman Sister Val, but I think that’s been pretty well covered. I’d just like to touch briefly on what the trip meant for me…

The highlight for me was spending time in the first grade classroom and on the basketball court at recess. The kids on the reservation were so excited about learning, having fun and preserving their heritage. The Santa Rosa school has a big challenge that they are facing – kids are dropping out and joining gangs at a young age – however their staff puts forth an amazing effort to provide an excellent place for learning. One teacher, Coach, was the school’s IT guy, gym teacher, athletic coach taking them to games against reservation schools hundreds of miles a way. You could hear kids enthusiasm in shouting “Coach!” just as they passed him in the hall. I am grateful for people like Coach and Sister Val.

I think that it is pretty awesome that an organization like Better World Books would undertake offering employees a program/benefit that would subsidize sending them to visit the literacy programs that we are all working so hard to support. It makes perfect sense, get employees together to visit a location and get energized about our mission. As an added benefit, employees get to know each other better and become a stronger team.

Thank you to Santa Rosa School! Although technically we were the volunteers, I think that BWB employees got the most out of being there and learning about the school, FACE, and Tohono O’odham culture.

And Coach – let me know if you need some help teaching basketball to the kids…

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Introducing Antiquarian, Rare, and Collectable (ARC) Books

Posted by admin on 09.14.2007 at 12:19 pm

Better World Books now has a dedicated Antiquarian, Rare, and Collectable Books (ARC) department at its Mishawaka, Indiana, Distribution Center.

Employing knowledgeable bibliographers who specialize in the identification of these unique items, including the research of provenance and publication details, the ARC team is prepared to deal with a wide-variety of books and other media which, in the past, were not saleable though traditional online channels.  Dedicated cataloguers provide careful and detailed descriptions and establish competitive price points based upon the current antiquarian market.

Though much of the ARC inventory consists of items with out ISBNs, we are no longer limited to just these items, and are actively seeking, for example: institutional collection deacessions, including special, rare, faculty, or subject-specific collections; complete, current reference sets; as well as many items and media which may not immediately be ostensibly of valuable (please see the ARC FAQ’s for further details).

This is an exciting time for the ARC. We’ve just attended the Antiquarian Book Seminars in Colorado Springs. And, we’re in the process of relocating the ARC operation to a more secure, stable and protected environment within the warehouse. Future plans include the addition of a preservation specialist, additional auction and sales venues, the issue of a catalogue, and more.

Please let us know how the ARC section at BetterWorld.com can assist you in the development of your collection (ARC-at-betterworldbooks-dot-com). For more information, click here. We look forward to serving your antiquarian, rare, and collectable book needs.

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Graffiti and Literature

Posted by admin on 09.13.2007 at 9:03 am

What an excellent trip! I’d never been to the Southwest before; I’d never seen any of the American deserts, or cacti growing like oak trees, or rattlesnakes (I still haven’t seen a rattlesnake) and it was all beautiful. Arizona is neat!

When we arrived at Santa Rosa Boarding School Tuesday morning, none of us had much of an idea of the sort of work we’d be doing. With students arriving the following day, we were just in time for the hustle and bustle of classroom set-up and campus preparation! We gathered in Sister Val’s room to delegate tasks and although I’m certainly not computer savvy, I somehow volunteered to set up classroom computers. Geoff and I started in Mrs. Roger’s room with a jumble of cords and computer parts and set to it. It wasn’t terribly long before another teacher stepped in to see if we could do hers as well! Only months earlier it had taken me the same amount of time to assemble my single desktop that it took us to assemble ten that day.

The downside of assembling computers is you have to play inside, and who wants that when outside looms an amazing desert sun and the possibility of critter sightings? With that in mind, Tuesday night I decided that each possible moment on Wednesday would be spent outside.  So naturally on Wednesday morning when Sister Val asked what we wanted to do and “play outside!” was my eager response.

Damara and I set to work picking up the early childhood playground and were disappointed to see graffiti painted on the equipment. We went to the office to ask if they had anything to clean it with and they sent us back out with an aerosol can of paint thinner and disposable sheets that are stored and removed like diaper wipes, but are covered with paint thinner — AMAZING.

Once we set to it we saw little progress, which just fueled our need to remove it entirely. We scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed. Eventually, Sarah Lynne came out to join us and we scrubbed, and scrubbed, and scrubbed. After lunch Damara and I returned for more hours of scrubbing. Hot, sweaty, tired, and SICK of scrubbing Damara sighed, “I wonder what would happen if I threw some of my water on it.” *Splash.* “OMIGOODNESS!!” we yelped as the graffiti dripped away. We were able to clear everything we’d been scrubbing away at for hours in only a half-hour! Knowing the trick, I wandered through the rest of the playground to find all those sneaky places we wrote bad words when we were kids.

Thank you, Santa Rosa Boarding School and NCFL for this great opportunity. We had a wonderful time!

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Better World Books Funds Shipment to University of Oran in Algeria

Posted by admin on 09.12.2007 at 4:50 am

Martha Schouten, an English Language Fellow teacher at the University of Oran in Algeria , contacted Books For Africa (BFA), to see if BFA could help replenish their library with English language books after many years of neglect. Currently, the University’s books in English are dated in the 1980’s or before.

During the 1990’s Algeria experienced civil war and domestic terror. Since 1999 little has changed – militant splinter groups continue their campaign against the government, and the army continues its own campaign against the rebels, amid accusations of corruption and brutality. This has undeniably created an atmosphere of insecurity in the general population.

As over half of Algeria’s population are young people, there are many issues for Algerian students. These concern future job opportunities, information available (or unavailable) to them, and the extreme feeling of uncertainty in almost all domains of their lives. In spite of this, Martha’s students are so very eager to know as much as possible about the outside world, and to travel and study in foreign countries.

To aid the beneficiaries of BFA donations, Better World Books has created a special Fund for Books For Africa. This Fund is designed to pay for the shipping costs of these containers of books. The Fund paid $9,000 in shipping costs for this one container.

The 40-foot container of books will be heading out today to the University. It is the first shipment that Books For Africa has sent to Algeria! The demand for university books in Africa remains enormous.

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Shipment to Edna Adan Ismail Medical Library via Better World Books Fund

Posted by admin on 09.11.2007 at 12:06 pm

The health of the people of Somaliland is among the worst in Africa . This statement is supported by the fact that even before the civil war and the separation of the two Somali states, Somalia had one of the highest maternal and child mortality rates in the world. While recent valid data is not available, the mortality rates after the destruction that has taken place in country is frightening to consider.

-One out of 8 babies dies before the age of 12 months
-Every year nearly 4,000 Somali women die in childbirth
-One out of 5 children dies before the age of five
-Life expectancy is only 48 years

In the Somaliland region of Somalia, an extraordinary woman named Edna Adan Ismail runs her own obstetric hospital and trains midwives, underscoring how women’s lives can be saved even in the most difficult environments. The hospital site, once used as a mass killing field during the civil war for independence (1988-1990) under Siad Barre’s reign, is now a haven for bringing new life into the world.

Xavier Helgesen, co-founder of BWB, learned about this hospital in a New York Times article, and contacted the hospital after the announcement of the Better World Books Fund for Books For Africa, and a container of books was received in late July.

The Better World Books Fund is designed to pay for the shipping costs of containers of books, donated through Books For Africa. The Fund is important, because the shipping costs for this one container alone were over $5,000.

The donated books will be used for the hospital’s medical library for the Edna Adan Teaching Hospital. While the library could not currently contain a whole container of books, any extra books with will be distributed to Universities in Somalia and governmental nursing facilities.

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