Travel = Food

Posted by admin on 11.19.2007 at 11:47 am

As Walter recently mentioned, the Library Team was in Charleston from November 7-10.  It was my first time in the city and also my first time to the Charleston Conference.  I had a great time enjoying the beautiful weather and it was great meeting everyone there.

One of the things I most enjoy when going to a new city is the food!  During the GALA Reception on Thursday night, we were presented with barbeque, boiled shrimp, steamed shrimp, and a plethora of other goodies.  Although I’m not a big fan of oysters, it was a lot of fun standing around shucking and enjoying everyone’s company.

Pictured: Jacob Fu, Walter Sears, Dustin Holland, Christian Blue

Another great place we stopped in for brunch was Jestine’s Kitchen.  It was a great local place that had a line waiting to get in before it even opened.  The meatloaf and sweet tea were amazing!

I definitely look forward to going back next year.  Let me know if you have any suggestions on places I need to try.

Have your say » | Tagged Uncategorized, conferences, library

Better World Books Announced as “B Corporation”

Posted by admin on 11.19.2007 at 11:41 am

BETTER WORLD BOOKS BECOMES A FOUNDING B CORPORATION

Online bookseller promotes literacy worldwide while benefiting its partners, employees and the environment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 6, 2007

Berwyn, PA — B Lab today announced it has certified online bookseller Better World Books, a leading online seller of new and used books, as a Founding B Corporation™. With the certification, Better World Books joins a growing international network of purpose-driven businesses dedicated to setting a new standard for social and environmental performance, creating benefit for all stakeholders, not just shareholders.

To become certified B Corporations, businesses must meet comprehensive and transparent social and environmental performance standards and amend their corporate governing documents to incorporate the interests of employees, community and the environment.

“Being a successful business and having a social impact are not mutually exclusive,” said Better World Books President and CEO David Murphy. “Through our retail website, BetterWorld.com, customers can find the books they want, enjoy free, carbon-neutral shipping, and help fund literacy with each purchase.”

Based in Mishawaka, Indiana, Better World Books was established in 2003 by three Notre Dame graduates with a simple, yet transformative idea – run a book donation drive, collect as many titles as possible, then sell those books to fund a reading program at a local community center. Entrepreneurs at heart, Better World Books’ founders quickly grew their idea into an online retail presence which integrates social impact into the core of its business model.

By sourcing and reselling used books in a way no major book seller had ever before tried, Better World tapped into a burgeoning new consumer market with a desire and passion for social responsibility. In just four years, Better World Books has raised more than $2.3 million dollars for global literacy programs, while growing quickly from 3 to 130 employees.

“Better World Books is a unique Social Enterprise—a triple bottom line business where creating a nursing library in Somaliland, supporting employees with profit sharing and equity ownership opportunities, and shipping book orders climate neutral are not simply by-products of doing business—it is the business,” said Murphy.

BetterWorld.com carries over two million new and used titles. The company acquires its inventory of used books from two primary sources: a Campus Collection Program organizes regular books drives for world literacy at more than 1200 colleges and universities; and a Library Discards and Donations Program provides more than 800 local libraries a needed outlet for redistributing donated books they can no longer keep or shelve.

“Better World Books is strong and growing business that beats the competition on price and values,” said B Lab co-founder Bart Houlahan. “Not only does Better World Books help customers save money, they also put their money where their heart is by funding vitally important literacy programs around the world.”

Through its partnerships with well established and widely respected organizations working on four continents: Room to Read, Books for Africa, Worldfund, and the National Center for Family Literacy, Better World Books capitalizes on the intrinsic value of books to support literacy initiatives. Support is not limited to dollars, however. Better World Books also works with its partners to ship books to classrooms and libraries where they are needed most. In collaboration with Books for Africa, for instance, Better World Books has delivered more than 550,000 textbooks to resource-starved colleges and universities throughout the African continent.

B Lab helps companies like Better World Books set the new corporate standard for social and environmental performance. Since its founding in 1972, B Lab has certified over thirty companies with a collective market presence of $380 million, all leaders within the green, local living economies, employee-ownership, fair trade, organic, and sustainable business movements and from the food, apparel, home, financial services, building, action sports, technology, business services, telecom, restaurant, marketing, and retail industries.

About B Lab B Lab, a 501(c)(3) non profit organization, supports B Corporations by: certifying B Corporations who achieve a minimum score on the B Ratings System; disseminating a legal framework to institutionalize stakeholder interests within existing corporate law; promoting B Corporations through a unifying brand; and helping B Corporations access mission-aligned capital markets.

Founding B Corporations to date, with a collective market presence of about $350 million, include: A-1 Builders, Blueprint Research & Design, Inc., BBMG, Benchmark Asset Management, BeOn, Better World Telecom, Better World Books, Blueprint Research & Design, Comet Skateboards, Culinary Collective, egg, Give Something Back, Good Capital, Green Harvest Technologies, Indigenous Designs, King Arthur Flour, Lateral Line Fishing Gear and Apparel, Learning & Vision Partners, Mal Warwick Associates, Matiz Espana, Method Products, Inc., Moka Joe Coffee, New Leaf Paper, Pura Vida Coffee, Seventh Generation, Uncommon Goods, Untours, Village Books, White Dog Caf

Have your say » | Tagged Dispatches from the Green House, Impact, b corporation, betterworld.com, Impact, Our Partners

Using Your Searches to Donate Money!

Posted by Jack on 11.19.2007 at 11:30 am

I personally am a Google guy.  With the interconnected nature of Firefox/Camino/Safari/Internet Explorer and the famed search engine, there are many people who would likely agree with my decision.  Well if Google is your engine of choice, I have a great site for you, and if it isn’t your cup of tea take a minute to consider the following:

Search Kindly

Search Kindly is a site that uses Google to search
(comes up with the exact same results, notice:

search “Better World Books is awesome” on Google
search “Better World Books is awesome” on Search Kindly

see?)

Anyway, the reason you should consider the switch is because Search Kindly donates all of the money they make off of advertising to the programs that users vote on everyday (the organization of choice changes every month).  They are a non-profit “dedicated to the idea of micro-volunteerism and micro-philanthropy i.e. a lot of people doing a little is better than a few people doing a lot.”

They’re making money and sending it to some great places including Wildlife Direct, Invisible Children and Friends in Deed along with others.

Have your say » | Tagged Uncategorized, fundraising, google, non-profits, search

University of Oran Update

Posted by admin on 11.19.2007 at 7:27 am

Here’s some additional photos from Martha Schouten at University of Oran in Algeria. The shipment of books from Books for Africa should be getting there soon – we’ll have more pictures then!

Martha in a mansouria (Moroccan party dress).

2 Comments » | Tagged Impact, Our Partners, africa, algeria, better world books fund, books for africa, Our Partners, university of oran

The San Francisco Green Fest

Posted by admin on 11.18.2007 at 10:28 am

Last weekend Better World Books attended the Green Fest in San Francisco to promote BetterWorld.com.  What an incredible event!  Over the course of three days, we spoke with thousands of people, ran a very successful book drive, and learned a good deal about other green initiatives happening throughout the world.  All in all, the event was a great success, and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly!

Above: Paul Drake, Geoff Schwarten, Silvia Sweidan, Brad Weirich, Natasha Harris, Justin Brandon

Above: Plastic Man

The man above was one of the flashier participants at the Fest.  He single-handedly ran his own awareness campaign about plastic, and came dressed in 700 plastic grocery bags (the amount of bags the average person throws away in a year) in order to effectively demonstrate how much waste our lives contribute to the environment.  Makes you want to buy reusable grocery bags, right?!

Have your say » | Tagged Uncategorized, california, green festival, San Francisco

BetterWorld.com Featured in Hallmark Magazine

Posted by admin on 11.15.2007 at 1:49 pm

BetterWorld.com is featured in the “Let’s All Get Merry!” December/January 2008 Issue of the Hallmark Magazine.  Check out the “Shop for a Cause” section on page 23 to read more.

Have your say » | Tagged Uncategorized, betterworld.com, hallmark magazine, press

A Labor of Love

Posted by admin on 11.15.2007 at 12:54 pm

In the beginning of October one regional director learned that she would have to box approximately 2,000 books by herself. However, to her delight several LaSalle University students came to her rescue!

This is a very special thank you to Bell Tower Books for their donation and to the La Salle Cross Cultural Association for their tremendous work helping to pack these books.

Tons of drama taping.

Have your say » | Tagged Uncategorized, bell tower books, book drive, campus, lasalle, pennsylvania

American Adult Literacy Podcast

Posted by admin on 11.14.2007 at 12:55 pm

Over at the National Institute for Literacy (or NIFL, not to be confused with our partner, the NCFL or National Center for Family Literacy), there’s a podcast from this past August about the findings of the “2003 Assessment of Adult Health Literacy.”  Head over there to see the full results.  They define “health literacy” as:

Health Literacy as the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.  Health Literacy is important for all adults; it is not just important for those who cannot read.  It is also and can be an issue for well-educated adults to know and understand health information needed to make everyday decisions.  Making good decision, health decisions, depends on having a high level of reading and comprehension skills.

As the page suggests, the following were the basic conclusions from the report, but there are much more in depth comments and findings within the report (natch):

Health literacy was reported using four performance levels: Below Basic, Basic, Intermediate, and Proficient. The majority of adults (53 percent) had Intermediate health literacy. About 22 percent had Basic and 14 percent had Below Basic health literacy. Relationships between health literacy and background variables (such as educational attainment, age, race/ethnicity, where adults get information about health issues, and health insurance coverage) were also examined and reported. For example, adults with Below Basic or Basic health literacy were less likely than adults with higher health literacy to get information about health issues from written sources (newspapers, magazines, books, brochures, or the Internet) and more likely than adults with higher health literacy to get a lot of information about health issues from radio and television.

Have your say » | Tagged Uncategorized, health literacy, literacy statistics, NIFL, podcasts

Real “Green” Houses

Posted by Jack on 11.13.2007 at 10:39 am

Hey folks.  For all of you out there who can’t get enough of recycling, have a sweet compost heap or windmill in their backyard or just have a predilection towards futuristic design and architecture, check this stuff out.

>Zero House, designed by Scott Specht, has the following awesome characteristics [thanks to Gizmodo]:

That extra wide roof holds a slew of high-efficiency solar panels that let you say goodbye to electric bills, powering the whole house and storing up enough extra energy in its batteries to keep everything running for a week, even if every single day is cloudy. That’s just the beginning…

The house holds its water in a 2700-gallon roof cistern, and the sheer weight of all that liquid pushes water through the plumbing. When you flush the toilets, it all ends up in a compost container in the basement, which digests all that stuff organically, relieving you of attaching your abode to any sewage pipes.

Even so, this house is highly civilized unto itself, with LED lighting built into the walls and ceiling, using very little power and lasting 100,000 hours without changing a single bulb. It’s off-the-grid living, in gorgeous style. Cantilevers, anyone?

>If that doesn’t catch your fancy then try on the “miniHome” at Sustain Design Studio

>Trouble is, if you’re like me, you love the city.  I’m doing what I can to help the environment but I can’t bear the idea of being so far away from so many things and people that I love.  For us city-dwellers check out DPD Green Building, an initiative started by the Seattle government.  They offer design plans, classes and lectures and a myriad of other materials for the DIY green conscious folk.

And hey skeptics, it wouldn’t be too bad to get rid of your water and electricity bills right?

Have your say » | Tagged Uncategorized, green design, off-topic

Congratulations Phi Theta Kappa Florida!

Posted by admin on 11.12.2007 at 11:34 am

You collected the highest number of qualifying books of all the states in the USA (more than 818 cartons!) for the collegiate “Book Drives for Better Lives’ program!

Hooray!

AND

you have saved 25,282 pounds of books from the landfill which is equivalent to over 12 tons of books–all from Florida!

Yeeeeaaaaaahhhhh!

Thank you to all the chapters in this, the Sunshine State that made this possible!! You are bringing light and hope to others through these book drives.  From my heart, I thank you for yours.

Florida from Space, courtesy of Wikipedia

1 Comment » | Tagged Uncategorized, book drive, campus, florida