Company News - Better World Books Blog - Book Reviews, Author Interviews, Community Outreach & more

$10,184,799.20

63,271,794

Got a job that needs doing? Hire a Book Drop Box!

Posted by Better World Books on 04.01.2013 at 8:31 am

As we continue to place book Drop Boxes around the country, we have come to realize the full potential of these marvelous constructions. Read more…

33 Comments » | Tagged Company News, april fools, drop box

A Little Reading on Better World Books

Posted by Erin on 05.16.2012 at 9:53 am

We don’t love to toot our own horn, but we have been part of some inspiring and interesting press recently and wanted to make sure you had a chance to check out these great articles.

Co-founder Xavier Helgesen on the Mother Nature Network

“Entrepreneurship is one of the most compelling and effective tools to change the world for the better,” says Xavier Helgesen. Read more here.

BWB Warehouse Staff Help Clean Town for Earth Day

“Employees from Better World Books came out to lend a hand and volunteer for INDOT’s Adopt a Highway Program, called Trash Bash.” Watch the coverage.

The Wall Street Journal “Best in…”

“Buy a book—and make a difference.” Click here for the full story.

“You don’t have to make a choice between making money or making a difference. Just follow the model of these rock stars of the new economy.”-Fast Company

Listed as one of six companies growing rapidly while doing good by Fast Company.

For an up to date list of all media coverage, visit our press page.

Have you spotted BWB in the news recently?

1 Comment » | Tagged Company News, In the News

WIN FREE BOOKS FOR A YEAR!

Posted by Erin on 04.23.2012 at 4:14 am

To celebrate the launch of our UK Facebook page, the UK Year of Books contest begins today! We’re running the contest on both Facebook and Twitter with a winner on each. Here’s how to enter:

1. Like Better World Books UK on Facebook
2. Go to our Year of Books event and click “join”
3. Share our event with your friends with the message: “I just entered the Better World Books UK ‘Year of Books’ Contest. I can win a year’s supply of books!”

OR enter via Twitter:

1. Follow @BWBUK on Twitter.
2. Tweet this (copy & paste the following into Twitter):
I just entered the @BWBUK “Year of Books” Contest. I can win a year’s supply of books bit.ly/ukyearofbooks

The randomly-selected Winner on each social network will receive:

Free Books for a Year!
This will be in the form of one £20 gift certificate emailed once a month. You can use this toward anything we sell on the website, including the Bargain Bin (Since the Bin allows you to get 4 books for £10, you could get 96 Bargain Bin books over the course of the year!).

1 Comment » | Tagged Company News, Contests

The #1 Way To Go Green This Earth Day

Posted by Erin on 04.22.2012 at 9:34 am

Donate your books to Better World Books!

Admittedly, no official polling group has ranked the Better World Books donation program #1, but you are #1 in our eyes when you save your books from a miserable fate in the landfill, and instead donate them to the fight for a fully literate world.

There are actually three big ways that we at Better World Books like to support you in your Earth-friendly efforts:

1) The donation and Drop Box program
2) Our carbon-balanced shipping option
3) Providing a bevy of used books to buy

Read more…

Have your say » | Tagged Company News, Impact, In the News, Social Enterprise

How To: Start Something That Matters

Posted by Erin on 04.13.2012 at 8:21 am

Our March Better World Book Club pick was Start Something That Matters, by the Founder of TOMS, Blake Mycoskie.

We featured the book as the subject of one of our quarterly in-person events – in sync with the TOMS One Day Without Shoes event worldwide on 4/10/12.

Have your say » | Tagged Better World Book Club, Company News, Impact, In the News

We Want to Fund Your Education Project!

Posted by Erin on 03.20.2012 at 9:04 am

Many of our blog posts are designed to inspire and encourage you to buy books the green and giving-back way.

This one is different. This time, we want to give-back directly to you through our Literacy and Education in Action Program (LEAP) grants. Feel free to jump ahead here and go right to the grant link (or continue reading about why and how the grant process works).

There are over 793,000,000 adults on our planet who are illiterate and over 67,000,000 children who are not able to attend school.*

Have your say » | Tagged Company News, Contests, Impact, In the News, LEAP

Another Way Invisible Children Educates the World

Posted by Erin on 03.14.2012 at 9:59 am

You may have recently become aware of Invisible Children through their #Kony2012 Campaign to stop Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony by the end of this year. We have partnered with Invisible Children for years to help rebuild the education system in post-war Northern Uganda.

As you will see in our latest impact video below, Invisible Children is working hard to uplift Northern Uganda from the inside – through education – and we are honored to support their education programs.

There are millions of teachers across Africa hoping to learn more about student-centered teaching and praying to be able to provide individual books to their students. Each time you donate a book to, buy a book from, or share Better World Books with friends, you are helping more teachers like Elizabeth lift up the next generation of Africans. Thank you!

7 Comments » | Tagged Company News, Impact, In the News, LEAP, Our Partners, Video Impact Story

Can One Parking Spot Help Change the World? We Think So.

Posted by Erin on 03.05.2012 at 9:50 am

Did you know that 2 billion pounds of books each year are sent to landfill? And that 30 million people (that’s 1 in 7 adults) are functionally illiterate.

We have a way to help decrease those numbers. It’s our Better World Books Drop Box program! The program is completely free and provides a much needed outlet for pre-loved books otherwise destined for landfill. Businesses and organizations that host a Drop box on their property raise funds for literacy and education in their community while bringing well-ready visitors to their property again and again.

Books brought to a host’s Drop Box are sorted by Better World Books. After sorting we ensure each book is put to its highest and best use. First we sell the books we can on betterworldbooks.com and 50+ online and offline marketplaces. Those that can’t be sold are donated. Those that can’t be donated are recycled.

A percentage of every book sold supports literacy and education. In addition, for every book sold on betterworldbooks.com one is donated, Book for Book™.

Better World Books programs, including our Community Drop Box program have collectively raised over $11 million dollars, donated over 6 million books, reused or recyled over 70 million books and provided over $200,000 in grants.

One parking spot can help change the world.

Read more…

4 Comments » | Tagged Company News, Impact, In the News, Social Enterprise

We are the Official Bookstore of Ideas Worth Spreading

Posted by Erin on 02.25.2012 at 7:34 pm

That’s right TEDsters, TED fans and all of you who have no idea what TED is or stands for – we are the official bookstore of TED. And that’s a good thing.

2 Comments » | Tagged Book Lists, Company News, In the News, Our Partners

Leading the Green Building Revolution from an Unexpected Corner!

Posted by Erin on 02.22.2012 at 9:48 am

Guest post by Judy Knight, Director of PR and Marketing at our partners in greening, Southface

Southface proudly partners with Better World Books, a social enterprise with a focus on sustainability. The partnership includes Southface hosting a Better World Books Drop Box. The program helps Southface provide a much needed outlet for pre-loved books in their community. Better World Books is also supporting the Southface Greenprints Conference – you can learn more in the post below.

Back when the U.S. Green Building Council and the now universally recognized LEED green building program were still in their infancy, a nonprofit called Southface was quietly changing city- and neighborhood-scapes through its annual Greenprints Conference, a gathering in the most unlikely of regions: the Southeast.