That’s right folks, our 2nd Annual LEAP for Libraries Grant Application is NOW OPEN and we’re searching for today’s library program game-changers.

What is LEAP?
LEAP stands for Literacy and Education in Action Program.  A portion of every book purchased on BetterWorldBooks.com supports literacy and education around the world.  We use LEAP as a way to support libraries and literacy non-profits through grants.  

Who Won the LEAP for Libraries Grant Last Year?
Approximately 3.5 million dollars worth of grant requests and almost 240 applications were reviewed by the Better World Books Literacy and Library Council in 2011. While there were countless worthy projects, six emerged as the winning grant recipients.  You can find their winning grant stories at www.betterworldbooks.com/librarygrants.

What Grants are Available This Year for Libraries?
This year, $30,000 in funding is available; maximum grant amount per project is $15,000.

• Projects should address the literacy needs of underserved populations in their community. Literacy needs are defined by broadly identifying, understanding, interpreting, creating, communicating, and computing information to live a more fulfilling and productive life.
• Libraries may pitch only one project each, with a maximum award of $15,000. Please be sure to clearly outline the project elements that require the requested funds.
• Projects that involve partnerships with local government agencies are highly encouraged.
• Projects that will have a measurable and long term impact on an underserved population and will continue to operate after grant funds have been utilized will be looked upon favorably.
• Better World Books looks forward to reviewing applications that bring a fresh and inspired approach to challenging issues.

 

When is the Deadline?
February 6th – Applications open.
April 9th – Applications due.
April 10-May 30 – Selection period.
May 31 – Winner announced!
June 2012 – Donations dispersed.

I’m Sold! How Do We Apply?
Go to www.betterworldbooks.com/librarygrants for more information and to download the application..

Please share this opportunity with all remarkable library partners and friends you know!

 

My mom is an educator. Growing up, she always told me that she – and all my teachers – had eyes in their back of her head. She also said that she never had time to use the restroom, to each her lunch (or dinner for that matter), to check her email or voicemails, or even to take one of those deep yoga breaths she so loves.I tended to have a meaningful, teacher’s pet relationship with my teachers. I remember thinking they had plenty of time to eat lunch, use the toilet, chat with their fiances on the phone and play with us in sports after school. Apparently, I did not believe my mom and I also seriously took my sweet teachers for granted.

The past few months I have spent time in a diverse array of schools cross the country filming success stories of our non-profit partners empowering students, teachers and families through education. Everyone who meets me thinks I have this huge enthusiasm for life and a love for my work which gives me an immense amount of energy. Well friends, I am exhausted. These teachers work. so. hard. Read more…

Try reading this short story and closing your eyes to think about it:

Imagine you are four years old. Your parents farm the food you eat every day. You sing songs and dance in joy around your fruitful village with your many siblings. Life is good.

Now you’re five years old. You just started primary school and are so excited to get a freshly pressed pink and blue uniform, books and a composition notepad. You walk home from school with a smile on your face. Your mother looks frightened. She stumbles through your sack of clothes and sends you off to sleep in the jungle. You are too scared to sleep.

For five years you walk to school, never getting a new book or uniform again. Each night you hide in the jungle, fearing that you will be kidnaped and forced to attack your family, become a sex slave or to do whatever the rebels ask of you. This is the only life you could ever see for yourself.

Fast forward ten more years. You are now 20 years old and you are about to graduate from University with a degree in Accounting. You have a fresh pressed uniform again, loads of books, and control of your future. Your life has completely changed.

What happened?

Watch Agnes’s story to find out.

Six year old Daniela’s face never used to be clean. Her eyes seemed vacant and she rarely uttered a word. She only ever sketched single colored empty bubbles with the crayons and paper they gave her. Daniela had trouble concentrating and often sought refuge in “no puedo” (“I can’t do it”). When there were group activities she would wander off alone. Daniela spent her days wandering the streets of Quito, Ecaudor. She had no way to discover her own imagination and free her mind to the endless opportunities six-year-olds around the world should be granted. Daniela did not even have one book, let alone a chance to learn the fundamental skill of reading.
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This is the season when most of the world is focused more on giving than receiving, on blessing or helping those who cannot help themselves.  In an excerpt from our book What Difference Do It Make, I’d like to share a story that hopefully will bless you, the reader of this blog,  about serving without judging.

After Denver and I struck up our unlikely friendship at the mission, we had a bargain.  I was going to show him how to get along with the country-club set, and he was going to show me how to get along in the ‘hood.  When Deborah first dragged me down to serve at the mission, my biggest worry was catching a disease or some kind of creepy-crawly infestation.  But after a while, my heart toward the homeless softened up to the point where I actually started going out into the streets with Denver to reach out to the homeless. Read more…

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.

Read more…

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.

Read more…

Guest post by Jean Reidy, children’s author and activist

My third children’s book, Light Up the Night (Disney Hyperion), was inspired by every kid who throws a sheet over the kitchen table and calls it a clubhouse. It’s for every kid who makes a fort out of couch cushions. And it’s especially for every kid who huddles down under a blanket at night ─ where safety and security reign, allowing imagination to blast off. It’s about earth, space and a kid’s sense of place.

But unfortunately, not all children enjoy security and sense of place. Over the past seven years my family has developed strong connections to the country of Uganda and its people. With that came my understanding of the plight of Uganda’s children. HIV/AIDS robs these kids of family and health. Past civil war threatens their security. And the warehouses and refugee camps where they currently seek safety are unimaginably inhumane.So it was with both an overwhelming sense of gratitude for what I have, and a deep sense of responsibility for those who have not, that I wrote Light Up the Night.

To celebrate the release of the book and honor the children of Uganda, I’m part of a project benefiting literacy in Africa and a library at Musana Children’s Home in Iganga, Uganda where I worked in the summer of 2010. Musana was founded in 2008 to provide a safe and loving home for children, many of whom have been orphaned or abandoned. In 2010 an existing building at Musana was repaired, secured and designated as their library. Now we need to fill it with books.

Read more…

He’s in the 9th grade. He and his mom were recently evicted from their home. He began this year on a 5th grade reading level. But thanks to you, Zachariah has hope – and a huge smile to boot.

Thanks to a partnership between Better World Books and Feed The Children, Zachariah now owns his very first book. Feed The Children does not only focus on feeding the literal hunger of children and families across America and worldwide, but also supporting healthy minds. With the help of Better World Books book donations, Feed The Children has distributed over 500,000 backpacks full of school supplies.

Zachariah’s success story would not be possible without you. Each time you donate or buy a book with Better World Books, students like Zachariah are given more opportunities to learn and grow.

Read more about how we met Zachariah.

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We have noticed that there are many incredible socially-minded businesses out there that share our philosophy of capitalism – that capitalism is not just about a single, financial bottom-line, that business can and should also change our world for the better. We share lots of stories about how our book donors, customers, staff, partners and advocates make a difference every time they interact with Better World Books. Now, we’d also like to begin sharing how like-minded organizations are making a difference as well.

So, without further ado, Meet Boosterthon.

BWB:  Tell us about the Boosterthon Fun Run.  How did it get started and what do you do?

The Boosterthon Fun Run is a nine day Fitness, Leadership, and Character-based elementary school fundraiser that offers a healthy alternative to traditional product sale fundraisers. Our founder and president, Chris Carneal, started Boosterthon while attending Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. Chris started a sports tutoring company that helped local students improve their baseball skills, and because Chris was also interested in impacting kids in other ways than just sports, he added a character lesson to each sports tutoring session. When he was approached by one of his kids to buy a product to raise money for a school, Chris thought there could be a better way to resource schools. From there, Boosterthon was started to help resource schools in a fun, hassle-free way. Students don’t have to sell anything. They just gather pledges from friends and family as they prepare for the Boosterthon Fun Run event.

Read more…