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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

The Top 10 Children’s Books of All Time (Plus Maurice Sendak and Teacher Appreciation Week)

Posted by Erin on 05.10.2012 at 8:32 am

In honor of Children’s Book Week, we asked our Facebook and Twitter friends to share and vote on their all-time favorite children’s books. And the winners are…

10. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

9. Love You Forever by Robert M (a regular best-seller on Better World Books)

8. Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie

7. Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson

6. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis

5. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

4. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

3. The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bianco

2. Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree

1. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

We also want to give special tribute to the #1 book on this list by none other than Maurice Sendak who passed away earlier this week at age 83. What is your favorite of his stories?

Finally, not only is this week Children’s Book Week – it’s also Teacher Appreciation Week. We love teachers and hope to help them at every opportunity we can, even offering a special educator discount on our site. Please take a moment to thank the special teachers in your life. You can publicly praise them here on our Blog or even on our Facebook page. We also invite you to buy a gift we know will mean the world to them – a book from Better World Books. Not only will the teacher receive a heartwarming gift, but someone in need will get a book too.

9 Comments » | Tagged Book & Author News, Book Lists, holidays, In the News

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

Rising Above the Scars: Author Shares Her Story

Posted by Erin on 04.18.2012 at 8:30 am

Guest post by Johnnetta Mcswain, Author and Activist

Note: This post is not appropriate for children.

I was born to an alcoholic mother and an absent father. From the moment I entered the world, I faced neglect, abuse, and poverty. At the age of five, my three uncles began what would become five years of brutal sexual, mental, and physical torture of me, my sister, and my male cousin. By the age of eight, I contracted syphilis and pneumonia as a result of the sexual abuse.

After the torture stopped, I was still left with the neglect and emotional abuse of my mother who didn’t provide my basic needs. Therefore, I dropped out of high school, began to steal, and lived a life of self-destruction.

On my 30th birthday, an urgency came over me to be the first in my family to break these vicious cycles. In a genuine effort to save my two sons from continuing these cycles, at age 32, I packed up my house, took my boys and drove from Birmingham, Alabama to Georgia. Equipped with only a GED and a dream to be the first in my family to graduate with a college degree, I enrolled at Kennesaw State University at age 33, and graduated in three years, becoming the first college graduate in my family. But, this wasn’t enough for me, at age 36, I enrolled in Clark Atlanta University and graduated in two years with my Masters in Social Work with a 3.9 GPA.
Read more…

1 Comment » | Tagged From our Friends, In the News

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

Teachers: NPR Wants to Share Your Story

Posted by Erin on 02.21.2012 at 9:38 am

The sun was rising. The sky was a peaceful yellow. NPR made my morning start off right. I was on the way to work and heard a story which inspired me to act.The story was about a Georgia couple – both teachers – and how the husband used playground sports to encourage friendship and learning among his students during recess. [You can hear the full story here.] It ended with a call-to-action from NPR’s StoryCorps… “Do you have a special teacher in your life? Come into StoryCorps to interview. We’d love to share your story as part of our National Teachers Initiative.”