Industry analysts widely agree that to really hit a task-driven home run, natural synergies must be achieved that [1] critically add value, [2] engage in total quality (TQM) management, [3] ramp up win-win productivity, and [4] aggressively pursue mindshare on a holistic level. OK, are all the supervisors gone?  Good.  It’s the second annual Shop From Work Week! Read more…

“I have always depended on the kindness of strangers” Tennessee Williams once said.In that spirit, one of my favorite ways to spend a sunny day is by walking around local neighborhoods and taking photos of strangers.

I ask them for permission, of course, and will only take their photo if they are willing to share their face and their story with the world.

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What did you do with your college textbooks when you graduated college?

I sold mine at the University of Virginia Bookstore and took the fresh cash to a cute boutique for a new dress and to Harris Teeter for a bottle of cheap champagne to celebrate.

Too bad I had not yet become aware of Better World Books. I sure hope I would have sold, or even given, my books to them. I still could have used the extra cash on silly splendors but others, who could barely dream of a shiny new dress or enjoying a bottle of bubbley, would greatly benefit too.

Here’s just a glimpse of what our student partners have been able to support in 2011 with their used textbooks:

Many students’ efforts on campus generated funding for Books For Africa. Books For Africa recently shipped its 25 millionth book to Africa, and was given a Charity Navigator 4 star rating for the 5th consecutive year, which means you can feel well assured that the funding and books raised by our wonderful book-drivers are being put to great use.

Others chose to support Room To Read through their campus book drives. Room to Read recently distributed their 10 millionth book, and they have opened more than 12,000 libraries and 1,500 schools to date. They’re currently opening libraries in South Asia and Africa at a rate of 6 per day. If you have not yet read the story of how Room To Read got started, it’s very inspiring and available here. Two lucky, passionate, hard-working college book drive leaders will win the trip of a lifetime this summer to come with Better World Books and Room To Read to visit their projects in the developing world!

With Worldfund’s 10th Anniversary quickly approaching, they have already invested more than $12 million in Latin America, with a focus on intensive training programs for public school teachers. Worldfund is currently impacting 340,000 children every year with their teacher training efforts in Mexico and Brazil. The top-generating book drive leaders from last school year were awarded a trip with Better World Books and Worldfund to South America this summer. Check out their life-changing experience in this video.

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TED, a non-profit dedicated to sharing innovative and thoughtful ideas around the world, has launched an “Ads Worth Spreading” campaign which they describe as an “initiative to recognize and reward innovation, ingenuity and intelligence in advertising – the ads that people want to see, and share with their friends.

We have just thing for this campaign! Recently, we have created a series of short films which highlight the impact that folks like you make every time you donate books or shop with Better World Books. We’ve entered six videos into the contest and would love for you to view and vote for them to be shown at the TED conferences this year.The videos

A homeless 9th grader who got his first book through the BWB/Feed The Children teacher store tells his story. The spot ties buying and donating to impact like Zachariah’s story.

2:40 – http://www.youtube.com/tedaws?x=us_showcasephase2_8324_27

60 seconds – http://www.youtube.com/tedaws?x=us_showcasephase2_8327_27

From the age of 5, Agnes had to sleep in the Ugandan jungle to hide from rebel soldiers. Today, she is a proud university graduate thanks to BWB and Invisible Children.

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Do you wish you had enough money to buy shoes, soap, shelter and books for every homeless child in our world – and also cute, trendy, smart items for your loved ones?While most of us cannot afford to buy two of every gift and ship one to someone in need and the other to our in-laws, nieces, long-distance lovers and bosses, there are companies out there who will do it for you, for free!

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We’ve all heard of Toys for Tots, but what about those old textbooks that you don’t ever want to see again? Is there a way they, too, can help children in need worldwide learn to read?

This holiday season we’re giving you the chance to create abundance with your unwanted textbooks!

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Guest post by Derek Williams & John Cervenka, Founders of The Giving Network

GivLive, a weekly show on The Giving Network hosted by Derek Williams and John Cervanka, highlights the great work of non profits and organizations around the world. On a recent episode GivCause shared about the outstanding work Better World Books is doing to bring attention to education and literacy.

Cervenka says, “Better World Books is on the forefront as a for-profit company that makes non-profit work part of their business model. GivCause is proud to share the impact of Better World Books with our global audience.”

GivCause | The Giving Network is revolutionizing the way non profits and cause driven organizations are telling their story to the world. After launching only two months ago, GivCause is already being seen in over 36 countries. The network, headquartered in Los Angeles, was founded by Derek Williams and John Cervenka. With their extensive background in the entertainment industry their goal is to build the largest global online television network completely dedicated to non profit programs. By the response they are already experiencing they are well on their way.

A full roster of new programs from various non profits around the world will premier in January 2012.

Do you have any suggestions for webisodes Better World Books can host on The Giving Network? What about other organizations that you’d like for GivCause to highlight? Please share below…

*Note* The above blog post is a guest blog from our friends at The Giving Network. This content does not necessarily reflect the views of Better World Books (as our lawyers make sure we say). We love having guest bloggers and invite you to email 11@betterworldbooks.com if you are interested in covering a book or topic on the BWB Blog. Thank you, John and Derek!

Imagine back to being in the 5th grade. Homework was just beginning to get difficult. Word problems in math class were becoming longer and more complicated.

Anytime I had a question about my homework, my mom was by my side and ready to help. She tackled the seemingly endless word problems with grace and humor. Thanks to her perfect explanations, not only did I get the answers correct, but I understood why.

There are many young students across the world, and right here in America, whose parents are unable to help them with their homework, not because they don’t understand the math, but because they cannot read the words.5th grader Antonio spent most of elementary school as one of these children. His dad worked nights and his mom did not speak English.

Maria, Antonio’s sweet mother, tried so hard to help. Finally, she found her little miracle: the local library.

Thanks to your book donations and purchases with Better World Books, we were able to grant Maria’s library in Shirley, New York an award with our partners at the National Center for Family Literacy and today, Maria can successfully help Antonio with his homework. Thank you!

What are your thoughts on Maria and Antonio’s story? How does it make you feel that it happened thanks to YOU?!

Dear stellar students, the following is an exciting update from your campus reps at BWB.

We want you to put us to work at the warehouse of our partner, Books for Africa, so we can provide some much needed (wo)manpower in support of their efforts to end the book famine in Africa.

Now that Halloween is over, it feels like the remaining holidays for 2011 are rushing in to take its place. On November 1st I heard Christmas music playing in a sandwich shop and it seems like there are even more commercials on TV reminding you to go out and shop, shop, shop. As we still have some breathing room before the holidays arrive, it’s important to take a moment to stop and reflect on what we can all do to help others in need.

The Better World Books On Campus Team has definitely been thinking about this and we want to let you know about our November service project. (Read carefully because you play a very important part in the plan!)

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The National Center for Family Literacy and Better World Books are proud to announce 20 mini-grants winners that have proposed creative ideas for using Wonderopolis® with families.
Wonderopolis provides family-friendly content that is practical, easy to use and designed to engage children’s natural curiosity and transform it into a lifelong love of learning. Wonderopolis is a place where wonder and learning are nurtured through the power of discovery, creativity and imagination through “Wonder of the Day.” Wonders of the Day will help you find learning moments in everyday life, ones that fit in with dinner preparations, carpool responsibilities, a stolen moment between breakfast and the bus, or within school curriculum and education programs. You can explore all this innovative site and community has to offer here.The National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL), which is the worldwide leader in family literacy, created Wonderopolis. More than one-million families have made positive educational and economic gains as a result of NCFL’s work, which includes training more than 150,000 teachers and thousands of volunteers. Read more…