Two Social Innovation Awards!

Posted by John on 03.25.2011 at 9:43 am

We’re honored to announce that Better World Books has received two Social Innovation Awards today including “Best Social Investment Strategy” and the “Citizen’s Choice Award”. As always, we are grateful to you, the Better World community, for making these awards possible through your fantastic support!

The awards were handed out by Justmeans, “the world’s leading source of information and connections for people doing business better.” Cool!

Here’s the lowdown on the two awards:

The Best Social Investment Strategy award is given to companies that invest their financial assets in order to advance causes or programs that have both social and financial returns. At Better World Books we have invested our financial assets to scale the business and thereby scale our social impact – we’ve helped literacy around the world by raising over $9 million for literacy programs and helped save natural resources by re-using or recycling over 40 million books so far.

Other finalists for the Best Social Investment Strategy included J.P. Morgan, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, and Vodaphone Egypt. We’re honored to be in such great company.

For the Citizen’s Choice Award, anyone could vote on submissions. Since our idea was selected by the voting public, we’ll be featured within a USA Today insert called “The Power of Innovation”. So thanks for your votes! You’re helping get the word out about Better World Books every day, and now you’ve helped us reach a lot more people.

The runner up for the Citizen’s Choice Award was “The Best (Olive) Oil Producer” (http://thebestoilproducer.com/), a social enterprise aiming to serve the olive oil market better by connecting producers directly w/ customers & developing community on Lesvos, Greece.

1 Comment » | Tagged Company News, In the News, Uncategorized

Ideas (and Books) Worth Spreading

Posted by admin on 03.22.2011 at 3:50 pm

Earlier this month, we had the opportunity to attend TED, a yearly convention centered around “ideas worth spreading.” Past speakers at TED include Bill Gates, David Byrne, Bono, Tim Ferriss, Seth Godin, Al Gore, and Steve Jobs. Actually, TED asked us to be the  official bookstore of this convention as well as its partner conference, TEDActive. Of course we could not say no to such a fortuitous opportunity.

Working the booth, we sold books to the likes of Tony Hsieh (CEO of Zappo’s) and Jason Mraz. We also hosted book signings by David Brooks, Jason Mraz, Roger Ebert, and Sunni Brown.

It was a blast to rub elbows with this amazingly influential and interesting crowd, but the best part was the knowledge that we were getting the word out there about our mission of literacy and sustainability.

And finally, we’d like to leave you with one of the most interesting TED talks of this year: Salman Khan on using video to reinvent education.

UPDATE: You, too, can browse the virtual online version of our TED bookstore booth.

2 Comments » | Tagged Company News

Oakland Literacy Trip Video (1 of 2)

Posted by admin on 03.18.2011 at 9:13 am

As you may recall, a group of BWB employees and two of our Librarian partners recently volunteered to do some hands-on work with the National Center for Family Literacy in Oakland, CA.  Here is the first of two videos showing the collaboration of schools, students, and their parents in literacy education.  See firsthand what kind of impact your purchases from Better World Books have in the world.

Part 2 is on the way!

Have your say » | Tagged Impact, Impact, literacy, NCFL, video

Better World Books is offering $75,000 in grants to library communities

Posted by admin on 03.14.2011 at 4:56 pm

Libraries serve a very important function in our communities.  They are a valuable resource for children and adults.  Libraries offer a wide range of services from helping people find jobs to offering workshops for small businesses.  And they are often the only place to access the internet for the 34% of the US population who do not have computer access at home (“Home Broadband Adoption,” Pew Internet and American Life, 2010).

Libraries tend to reflect the communities they serve.  They tailor their services to the needs of the people in their areas.  And when new resources are needed to help the local community, libraries will seek funding to make their projects a reality.  That’s where we come in.

Better World Books is a huge supporter of libraries of all kinds and we are aware of the financial struggles they face.  It is why we decided to make available $75,000 to be distributed to libraries who have compelling projects which will make a dramatic impact in their communities.

Libraries have up until March 25th to submit their “Game Changing” ideas. Winners will be announced on May 16th and the winning projects implemented between 5/16/11 and 12/31/11.

We are looking for projects that will significantly impact literacy in their communities.  It’s why we refer to them as “Game Changing” ideas.  Successful applicants will use funds to advance a compelling literacy project that Better World Books will follow and share with you.

If you work at a library, know of anyone that works at a library, love your library or have ever been touched by the power of a book, check out www.betterworldbooks.com/librarygrants.  There you’ll find out more about the library grant program and how to participate.

1 Comment » | Tagged Our Partners, Grants, libraries, literacy

Get Vocal on World Read Aloud Day!

Posted by admin on 03.09.2011 at 4:50 pm

Across the globe nearly 171 million children could be lifted out of poverty if they left school with basic reading and writing skills. Better World Books is a company devoted to solving this issue, with every sale supporting literacy initiatives like these around the world. But we’re just one of a vast community doing excellent work for literacy.

Allow us to introduce LitWorld.org, proponents of World Read Aloud Day! WRAD’s mission is not only to celebrate the power of words and stories, but to rally together and stand up for the 774 million people in the world who cannot read or write. LitWorld is on a mission to raise a collective 774 million minutes of time spent reading aloud with participants and literacy leaders throughout the world on World Read Aloud Day.

So let’s join together and read aloud for a collective 774 million minutes in support of the 774 million people worldwide who cannot read or write. Let the children of the world know we believe in the power of words and stories to change their lives.

Visit LitWorld.org to participate in World Read Aloud Day.

Have your say » | Tagged Uncategorized

Emily and David at the 2011 Oakland Literacy Trip

Posted by admin on 03.03.2011 at 1:31 pm

Recently, a group of BWB employees and two of our Librarian partners visited the West Coast do some hands-on work with the National Center for Family Literacy. Turns out, it was awesome. Our employees will be sharing their learnings and experiences on this blog, shedding light on the process of fostering literacy in the US.

Here’s the first of several videos — Emily Kirkpatrick, Vice President of the National Center for Family Literacy, and our CEO David Murphy discussing the big idea of the trip and some memorable moments. It’s a few minutes longer than our normal vids but hang in there for the moving story of a tireless mom from Bhutan going to great lengths just to make a living yet also finding a way to participate in the literacy education of her child.

Have your say » | Tagged Impact, Literacy Trips