This year, our literacy partners at Invisible Children are proclaiming that the “The holiday spirit is the human connection”. Through their latest holiday campaign, they are helping to illustrate that with every purchase we make this year, we can choose to positively impact someone’s life – a concept very close to our hearts at Better World Books – and the foundation on which our entire business is based.

As a triple-bottom-line social enterprise, it is embedded into our mission, vision and even by-laws that we work towards the betterment of people and planet – not only profit. We are passionate about sharing our story with people like you to further the wave of conscious consumerism.

Today, you don’t only need to donate or volunteer to make an impact, you can simply be thoughtful about where you buy things you already need. For example, every time you buy a book with us, organizations like Invisible Children get funding – plus we donate a book to a student in need. Book for Book.

Here’s another way you can support Invisible Children with your gift purchases this holiday season… Read more…

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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Calling all writers, here’s a chance to have a renowned writer or literary agent critique your work!

We are honored to carry many of the meaningful titles we stock at Better World Books and one of those that means the most to us is What You Wish For, a special book full of a collection of the world’s best-selling and honored writers for young adults and children. The authors share stories and poems that captivate, inspire, and offer hope about things we all wish for. Together with Darfur advocate and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Mia Farrow, who wrote the book’s moving Foreword, they contributed to this amazing collection for free so that the proceeds could be used to fund libraries in Darfuri refugee camps in Chad.

Post by Yanna Constantinou, Better World Books’ Manager of UK AcquisitionsRoom to Read, our fantastic charity partner, which supports children to gain the lifelong gift of reading, has an amazing opportunity to leverage a £100,000 match fund and put 150,000 books in the hands of children in Asia and Africa: this week only, every online donation through The Big Give website will be matched pound for pound, effectively doubling your gift and its impact.  

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Thank you for being a loyal supporter and customer of ours, because you are also helping groups like Invisible Children. One of the coolest parts of Better World Books is that we are not asking you to donate money or time to us. We are simply hoping that you will make a conscious decision to buy something you are already going to buy from a company that matches your purchase with a donation.

Each time you tell a friend about us, donate a pre-loved book to us, or buy a book from us, people like Beatrice, below, benefit.

Our wonderful partners at Invisible Children are happy to share an example of their work with our funds through the spotlight story below. We hope you are inspired!

Mentor Spotlight: Beatrice

You can watch Beatrice’s story at http://vimeo.com/29133773. (password: lspsupp0rters) Read more…

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…

Guest post by Pam Boiros, Prison Book Program volunteer

The Prison Book Program gets books into the hands of prison inmates, who often lack any educational resources. As a grassroots organization operating on a shoestring budget, the organization’s partnership with Better World Books has has been essential–providing a stable source of funding.Prison Book Program was delighted to represent Better World Books at the third annual Boston Book Festival Saturday, October 15.The festival took place on historic Copley Square, in the center of downtown Boston, near iconic (and literary) landmarks such as the Boston Public Library and Trinity Church.  Dozens of authors led discussion panels, and signed their books for an estimated crowd of 30,000 “booky” Bostonians of all ages and walks of life.  Crisp fall weather, and the fact that all events were free, contributed to the great turnout.

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Guest post by: Sarah Lipscomb, Invisible ChildrenAfter watching Invisible Children: The Rough Cut in high school, I was immediately taken aback by the child abductions and crimes against humanity taking place in Uganda by Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

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