An excerpt:

Better World doesn’t charge any shipping fees for shipments within the US (and only $3.97 worldwide), and every order gets shipped carbon neutral with offsets from Carbonfund.org. Unlike traditional for-profit companies, Better World Books adds a social component to everything it does as a commercial venture. So far, the company has converted more than 16.4 million donated books into $5 million in funding for literacy and education.

My favorites:
-Thx for sharing http://www.betterworld.com site..Shipping is great for me here in Pakistan, with amazon shipin is so costly here

-i like this company’s mission anyway, but if you’re out of usa and want lots of books, shipping way cheap: http://www.betterworld.com/

-In place of Amazon every book I link to from my site will be at BetterWorld Books: http://www.betterworld.com/

- Buying books at BetterWorld.com. Free shipping (USA), low prices; each purchase fights illiteracy: http://www.betterworld.com/

-I like using Better World Books- the business concept is just so cool and they are rethinking how a triple bottom line company works

-Donate textbooks to Better World books. Hope my immunology and physiology texts find a good home.

Check it out:

A US-BASED online bookseller which gives a proportion of its turnover to literacy charities has launched its first overseas subsidiary in Scotland.Better World Books (BWB), which was set up in 2001 by a trio of IT graduates in Indiana, has opened a warehouse in Dunfermline and claims it is aiming to become a serious rival to Amazon on both sides of the Atlantic. (continue reading)

The international organization created the revolutionary fundraising program in 2006 in response to the need for quality schools in northern Uganda – schools that have been destroyed by displacement, rebel occupation and lack of funding due to the 22-year war. Schools for Schools uses an innovative online social community to help students see where their money is going and connect to different projects, fundraising ideas, and supporters. Within its first year, students rallied together and raised over $3 million.

The World’s Biggest Book Drive will build upon Schools for Schools’ innovative fundraising strategy and will help complete the ambitious projects at Invisible Children’s eleven partner schools in northern Uganda.  Through a Partnership with Better World Books, a global bookstore that harnesses the power of capitalism to bring literacy and opportunity to people around the world, over 1,000 student groups will be invited to join the movement by leading community-wide book drives.

A winner of the 2008 Fast Company Social Capitalist Award, Better World Books is a fast-growing social enterprise that collects donated books and sells them online to fund literacy initiatives worldwide.  Through partnerships with more than 1,600 college campuses and 900 libraries nationwide, Better World Books has generated over $4.7 million for its non-profit, library and college partners, donated 1 million books to literacy programs globally, and diverted nearly 13.5 million books from landfills.

The World’s Biggest Book Drive will utilize the passion, creativity and hard work of student groups inspired by the GO documentary, and the technical and logistical expertise of Better World Books, to collect, sell and donate used books in support of schools in northern Uganda.

“What’s incredible about this program is that it relies on the most unlikely donors – high school and college students – to raise the money, allowing them to believe that they have what it takes,” said Laren Poole, Invisible Children co-founder and GO Director. “At the end of the fundraising and book drive competition, the top students have the chance to visit their school in Uganda to meet students their own age. It’s a story come full circle.”

Xavier Helgesen, a co-founder of Better World Books, believes the partnership with Invisible Children is unique in that “it allows ordinary citizens across the U.S. and Canada to support lasting peace in Uganda by donating a national resource in vast supply in both countries – used books.  Books cluttering up their closets, stuffed under their beds, and collecting dust on their shelves will be transformed into dollars to support literacy and international development.”

22 all-expenses-paid trips to northern Uganda will be awarded to student groups that raise the most money, collect the most books, and offer the most creative ideas for propelling the Schools four Schools movement.

The World’s Biggest Book Drive starts on September 8, 2008, and will end on January 31st, 2009.

About Invisible Children, Inc. Established in 2005, Invisible Children is a social, political, and global movement using the transformative power of a story to change lives. By inspiring youth culture to value creativity, idealism, and sacrifice, the movement fuels the most effective, adaptable, and innovative programs in the world. Invisible Children, Inc. was formed after the release of the film “Invisible Children: Rough Cut”, which documents a war in northern Uganda in which children are abducted by a rebel army and forced to fight as child soldiers. Currently, Invisible Children is putting 740 kids through school and employs more than 250 men and women living in this war-torn region, with plans to see that number grow. These programs on the ground were developed by the people of northern Uganda and seek to improve the quality of life for individuals through quality education, enhanced learning environments and innovative economic opportunities. www.invisiblechildren.com.

Greek Media: Politis loves Better World Books

…and Better World Books (whose Dustin Holland was a 2007 LJ Mover & Shaker) are two of today’s most popular discard solutions. Both help libraries make the most of the marketing principles of the long tail, as coined by Wired magazine’s Chris Anderson, wherein obscure titles are able to find a larger audience owing to the efficiencies of e-commerce.

…contributors to Better World Books are pleased with the results. “The Brooklyn Public Library sees a real value in this relationship and has been more than happy with the revenues it generates,” over $155,000 since 2005, says Barbara Genco, director of collection development. Western Kentucky University Libraries, Bowling Green, succeeded in building a $200 Alibris credit over a two-year period. Southwestern University earned $300 with Better World Books during the 2006–07 academic year.

Thanks, Library Journal!  We do our best to bring libraries the best value while providing a much needed service.

Jaime is 33, moving back to Chile (we’re all wiping away the tears, seriously), he’s an architect by trade but a warehouse manager by day and, sorry ladies, he’s happily married to his lovely wife Pia (who also works at Better World Books and is a total business rockstar) and has two kids, Victoria and Benjamin (who are obviously training to become book nerds at BWB as well).

Congrats, Jaime!

While we’ve spotlighted green book sources before, I do believe that Better World Books might be the only place you’ll be shopping in the future.

Here’s what makes them so great, and my new top pick for book buying:

1. All books sold help fund high-impact literacy projects around the world.
2. Not only do they sell new books, but they collect and sell donated books as well. Not only is this a great way to reduce/reuse/recycle, it also has helped to generate $4.5 million in funding for literacy and education. So far, over 6,000 tons of books have avoided landfills.
   
3. To date, Better World Books has donated over 1 million books to literacy programs.
4. Every order is shipped carbon neutral, using offsets from Carbonfund.org.
5. The company was started by college students who knew first-hand about the importance of passing on textbooks, literacy and business with a social conscience.

Ah, that feels good… like a warm towel after a shower.  Head over to Green Daily for great tips on how to greenify your life, a little bit at a time, and a sweet “Top Ten Green Kids’ Books” list that I’m way jealous I didn’t think of first.

Here are some highlights from the (latest) posts on our Facebook Fan Page: (currently with 1300 fans!!!)

Rose from Singapore: Bye Amazon

Ambassador Tom Amolo: I am an eclectic reader, this is home.

Reika from Australia: Great job! I found old books from my teenage years which I missed. Being so far away from the US, I couldn’t get my hands on all the books I want at such a cheap shipping rate. You’ve really solved my problem on that! Thanks!

James from (my beloved) Ireland: Great job guys I just picked up two books for cheaper from you than from a bookshop in Ireland! Keep it up!

Randy and Sharon: Amazing! Im a phenomenal book addict and just discovered the joys of shopping online! lol… Looks to me that BetterWorld Books will be my new fave site!!!

And Chris from Dupage captures it neatly: I’ve contributed to the past to non-profit organizations, but nowadays I just can’t afford it. I feel like I am indirectly actually doing something for the common good just buying books from BetterWorld. And free shipping!! Awesome!

Belkis in Venezuela: I have (been) buying books from them for more than three years and i love them, not only because i benefit from the prices and variety of books, also i am helping along with the environment and the most important i am supporting the causes they support, especially books for my brothers and sisters in Africa. I am so happy to find everything that makes me happy in one place.

Angela at IUPUI: I just got some books I ordered from Better World Books; they arrived in a timely fashion, were in good shape, were very reasonably priced, and best of all, they were shipped in an eco-friendly way without all that extra packaging and some of the funds went towards good literacy-promoting causes. Considering I’m a librarian (a librarian in training, actually), I couldn’t ask for a better place from which to buy books!

Madzia in Poland: I love, love, love BetterWorld. I can buy cheap books that are hard to find elsewhere- most of the sources for my master’s thesis came from Better World. And I am very glad to know that I don’t have to worry about the carbon footprint, that my money helps charity, and that I save books from becoming landfill. Long live Better World!

Dor in Israel: Better World books made it possible for me to order books online and not have to pay double just for shipping, you people rock!

Patti at Harding: Amazing selection and great service! I ordered 17 books and received them exactly as ordered just a week later.

Gerry in New Zealand: Def some good prices. Seems like an all around good choice

but perhaps Scott in L.A. says it best:

There are those who would assume that running a business that keeps old textbooks out of landfills, takes those books and sells them at a low price, and then buys carbon credits to offset emissions that result from shipping those books is actually a charity. How could a company ever make money by trying to do good things for the environment? Better World Books is out to prove those doubters wrong.

Read more over yonder.

[ed. note: Now I know the betterworld.com team isn't far from Haight Ashbury but as a New Yorker I resent this hippie tag, harumph.  (kidding!  thanks for the support, Cyndy!)  However, we've actually raised $4.5 million, not just $2.75 (the difference is the money we've raised for libraries)!]

On A Prolific Trip of Epic Proportions 5
MGD says: “It is great to see those young children reading. They appear to enjoy doing that. Keep the good job guys.”

On Show Us Some Love, Finnish Edition
Sanntu says: “Hi! Nice site! I don’t know how you manage to have such low international shipping prices AND do some charity as well but I’ll be sure to buy something… soon.

So, I’m Finnish and might be able to help you out. The whole article is maybe a tad longish to translate completely (at least now, it’s 3 a.m.) and doesn’t seem to be online anyway.

But here’s what the caption says, roughly:
“$Millions to promoting literacy: ‘Way back in school I used to dream about a company whose operations were inseparably connected with charity,’ says Xavier Hegelsen.

All in all it seems like a positive story and if there’s something more you’d like to know, do ask.”

On Chicago, Navy Pier, Game Time!
Kristin says: “I had never heard of you before and I am so happy I came across your book store at the Chicago Green Festival! Thanks for coming out to our town!”

On Show Us Some Love, May 12 Edition
Cathy says: “My first encounter with BetterWorld was with a book I bought on Amazon. No more Amazon for me now that I have found this great site.”

Well Cathy, I’m not going to complain.

However, if you have Finnish under control maybe you can tell us what this awesome full page pull out says in KD or as they know it “Kristillisdemokraattinen viikkolehti” (yes, that is the title of the newspaper… seriously).  So far on the site I’ve ascertained that “Etusivu = homepage” and “Arkisto = archive.”

If you can find it, in the March 30th edition we got some awesome press (I think…):
“Lukutaidon edistamiseen jo mlijoonia dollareita: Haaveilen jo koulussa yrityksesta, jonka toimintaan liittyisi erottamattomasti hyvantekevaisyys, sanoo Xavier Hegelsen.”

Hey… I recognize something there!

[Update, I think "Haku" is search but I have yet to find the article in the archives... I'll keep you posted!]

[Update 2: This is an interview with Xavier!  Scandanavia loves its own!]

For more press about Better World Books go HERE.

- Best Green Blog post re: The upcoming Chicago Green Festival
“Better World Books and Green Festival are partnering to offer $5 off Green Festival admission to attendees who bring in 3 or more books. Your donated books will be sold on BetterWorld.com to help fund girls’ scholarships in developing countries in Asia through Room to Read. www.roomtoread.org…”

-Hippo Press post re: De-cluttering
“The Nashua Public Library works with www.betterworld.com. Their blog (which recently had an entry about clutter which conveniently lists several books about de-cluttering at blogs.nashualibrary.org/reference/)”

- Southern Vibrations post re: Learning Spanish
“My trip to Spain is in August. Here’s how I’m learning the language: …Fifth, I bought the Dos Mundos textbook from Betterworld.com for less than $10 and have been studying that a lot.”

- Sub Ratio post re: Amazon Unlinked
“I was aware of the issue regarding smaller publishers that Halden refers to before his post and this, coupled with the poor customer service I have received from them of late has meant Amazon are no longer my first port of call when buying books… recommended sites of purchase:
- The book’s publisher (where applicable)
- Abe – This is a really good online marketplace of 2nd hand retailers searchable by bookseller location.
-  Better World Books – I have purchased through these a number of times

- Syerubi re: Adorable Af(f)ordable
“Um.. so, I know some people ’round these parts are big book fans! I was just searching through Howard County Library’s website and found this place that donates a lot of money to them: https://www.betterworld.com/index.aspx

They seem like a reputable company, and the shipping’s free, and they claim that you’re helping education/the environment/the kidz who can’t read good when you buy from them. Ugh, who wants to do that? So, I ordered a book! Yay for helping!”

- Rollins Rundown re: Better World Books
“Last week I ordered some used books from BetterWorld Books. Basically, they sell used and new books and the profits go to fund literacy programs around the world. I bought 5 board books for the tykes and 4 books for me, all for $3.48 a book. Yep, I got 9 books for less than 35 bucks. AND, shipping within the US is FREE — including APO addresses. Otherwise, worldwide it’s about $3 a book…

I love this site!”

From Pam at PBP:

Thanks again for arranging to get those 19 cartons of paperback
dictionaries to Prison Book Program.  These will be an incredible help
to us — approximately half of the requests from prisoners are for a
dictionary, and normally we have to purchase them in bulk.  This
shipment will keep us up to our ears in dictionaries for the foreseeable future!

As always, we value the partnership with Better World Books, and take
every opportunity to sing your praises from the rooftops!

Best regards,
Pam and the whole PBP gang

Here to help, Pam!

“Sharing this from an RFF (Readers for the Future) posting by David Glen Anderson, repeated below. Sounds like a website worth supporting. I like the idea of books supporting good causes, and I like to see second hand books move on to new lives. (The book Dave talks about below isn’t Righteous Anger)

‘Before I left to attend Life, the Universe and Everything, I ordered one of the Golden Duck candidates from BetterWorld.com (http://www.BetterWorld.com/) Fund literacy, care for the environment, and get a fair price on the books you want. 2 Million Used Books. Free shipping in the USA, $2.97 worldwide This book was not available new.

The book is in transit. I went to their website. For less than $30 I found about 8 books that I needed to fill in some holes. Some are exlibrary copies but when I cannot find certain books in my local bookstore exlibrary works. BetterWorld lists libraries et al that benefit by my purchase.

Dave Anderson’

([Dave]’s into all kinds of good books and good ways to make them mean as much as they can in the world.)”

Nice!

Apparently the writer bought some books from us at www.betterworld.com and has this to say about that:

I’ve been reading Christopher Buckley for the past month now.

1. No Way to Treat a First Lady
2. Thank You for Smoking
3. The White House Mess
4. Florence of Arabia
5. Wry Martinis

I’m on book #4 right now and I was so thrilled to find this:

It’s Christopher Buckley’s autograph~!

… now Johann and I have to change our names to Kerry and Susan. ^_^

My favorite is still No Way to Treat a First Lady. Florence of Arabia is really funny. ^_^

We also got a copy of Irving Stone’s Passions of the Mind — his take on Sigmund Freud.

We received a library copy and it still has the old library record. ^_^

I like that my books have a story. ^_^

So what have we learned? Used books have a story (that’s more than the one cleared by an editor) and sometimes a surprise. And did I mention they’re loads cheaper? Ah, well in case I didn’t…

Check this testimonial about Better World, our website for book sales, all the way from the United Arab Emirates! :

This website is a paradise for bargain hunters on books. The people managing this site come across as being very ethical: they sell at ridiculously low prices, especially older editions of textbooks, they stun you with an incredible shipping cost of USD 2.95 per book for international orders and also fund literacy with your purchases. I have lost count of the number of books I’ve ordered from them. Orders unfailingly arrive in 2 weeks to United Arab Emirates and the books are in the same condition as stated in the website. If they said there was a CD, you will get a usable CD with the book! As testimony to my good experience with Better World, I ended up buying a lot more books than I otherwise would have. I will put my hand on my heart and say this is a site any booklover should checkout before hitting the ‘Place Your Order’ button at amazon.com or Barnes and Noble. You may never know what you are missing till you have visited Better World.

“As soon as I found out about BWB I began telling my friends to order from you in the future. If our money can not only purchase books but encourage reading programs, why wouldn’t we support that?”

“ The Better World Books philosophy matches several of my personal ethics very closely. I hate waste, I support recycling, I love books/reading/literacy and I support pragmatic, intelligent aid systems, especially those where the purchaser gains something of value as well as feeling they’ve helped others. Keep it up, folks. Peter Bryenton www.brypix.com”

“I would recommend Better World Books, because your prices are good, you send orders out quickly; I love to read and feel strongly that everyone should have the opportunity to discover reading, so I love knowing that by buying from you I am helping that happen.”

I have just got to tell you folks…..I have ordered many books in that last
4 years from Marketplace sources and Amazon since I began my theology
studies and you are BY FAR the most efficient and thorough and dependable. When you
are working on heavy duty research like they expect of us in graduate
theological education, you usually need your “source” like, oh, “yesterday” once
you figure out what the “all important source” is. And many of them are older
and hard to find. SO, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for being THE BEST service
I have found. I wish I had found you back in 2003 when I started my studies,
BUT I HAVE FOUND YOU NOW and I am incredibly grateful.

Do you have a website that I can access that will get me to you directly to
check and see if you have any text(s) I am particularly looking for in the
future to make sure I can deal with you?

Thanks again and PLEASE keep up the great work….we depend on you.

The Worsted Witch, described as “the malformed love-child of my indecorous passions for knitting, sustainability, gothic horror, and illustration,” made the case for used book buying better than I ever have, imploring her readers to support literacy at BetterWorld.com.

Booksiter listed BetterWorld.com as one of the top websites to find a good deal on your textbooks. They cited our Rapleaf Reputation (over 1,600 positive feedbacks as I write!) which we are pretty proud of. We currently have the top ranking in the world on the Rapleaf Reputation system.

Tiffany on MySpace is teaching her friends how to “Improve the world and be a Cheapskate at the same time.” She can’t get over the free shipping. I don’t blame her a bit.

Finally, author and historian Melissa March blogged about us a few days ago on Grosvenor Square .

Thanks to everyone for sharing the word!

———————————————————-
Mary, David, Patrick… [that is Mary Murphy @ BWB, David Murphy, CEO of BWB, and Pat Plonski, director of Books For Africa, respectively]

Greetings from this side of the globe and happy thanksgiving….no turkey here so eat extra for me…

EOTF finally help the book distribution ceremony this past monday after sorting through all the books and determining what went where…in all they sent books to 602 secondary school, a bunch of primary schools (i forget the #) and 14 government libraries nation wide…it was a huge success and publicized well…my students who live in the city and have TVs say the ceremony was all over the news…during it both mr. basil (the exec. director) and mama mkapa expressed their sincere gratitude to books for africa and better world books….and even though we dont celebrate thanksgiving here, today all of us at loyola are forever grateful as well…attached is a picture from the event…hope all is well with you and your familiies this time of year…God bless you and the work you do…peace…
–bb

In Faith and Humble Service,
Billy  [last name edited for the sake of privacy]
Jesuit Volunteers International
Educator, Social Servant
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Click to Enlarge Image

If only every used book shopper had the curiosity to dive in that deeply!

The welcoming smiles and sincere embraces that Phi Theta Kappa greeted me with warmed me through and through. Members from 27 chapters drove hundreds of miles to learn how to make themselves stronger leaders for a tomorrow that I hope to be part of. When they had a free moment to chat we shared stories of our families, our pasts, our hopes and our dreams. We got to know each other not only as the person on the other end of the phone or email line, but also as friends.

Everyone kept thanking me for coming to speak to them about Better World Books, but I’m the grateful one. So to everyone of the Iowa Phi Theta Kappa Leadership Conference: Thank You. Thank you for your embraces, smiles, applause, hospitality, and for sharing your lives and time with me. Thank you for wanting to be better people and stronger leaders. Thank you for all the good things you do for your community and our world when so many people today look out only for themselves. Thank you for all of your hard work, for running successful book drives, and for supporting BWB and our literacy partners. And thank you to everyone else who supports BWB; thank you for saving books from landfills, for helping to break the cycle of poverty through education and literacy, and most of all thank you for making this world a better place!

Please see below for an excerpt from an article featuring the bookstore’s BWB book drive effort which appeared in the Summer 2006 North Hennepin Community College class catalog.

“This year, during the spring buyback program, the bookstore collected 24 boxes of books – more than 1200 pounds – from students, staff and faculty. “It was a great donation for a worthy program,” said Jeanne Kiel, Bookstore Supervisor. “We’re hoping to send regular shipments of books to Better World Books, not just at buyback time.”

www.nhcc.edu Summer Magazine 2006 page 11

Making the campus aware of the project, of course, is one of the keystones. Beginning in the early stages of the project, we sent out emails and put up flyers to notify our fellow students about the book drive. Even before the collection boxes were out, all three campuses knew that this project was going to begin soon. The time we put into the advertisement portion of this project definitely paid off. Students knew exactly when and where to donate their books, and contributions started coming in as soon as we put the boxes up.

Also, thoughtful placement of the boxes increased our donations tremendously. We placed them in high traffic areas such as the library entrance, frequently traversed hallways, and the bookstore. The bookstore location was an especially important collection spot due to the time of the project. Book-buy-back week was underway, and by placing the box adjacent to the buy-back center, it was ensured that any surplus books would be donated.

Contributions from faculty are also something that is definitely worth looking into. About half of our donations were from the college’s faculty and staff. All it took was an email from our advisor notifying the rest of the faculty that this project was coming up. To make it easy for people to donate, we designed one day a campus-wide “Book Blitz,” when chapter members and volunteers made the rounds to collect books at faculty and staff offices. The response was enthusiastic, and plenty of our people were more than willing to get a few old books off their hands.

And lastly, the most important factor that resulted in this successful book drive was dedication. A committed team of people can go a long way. We started the project, and kept with it all the way until the end. Everyone stayed positive, were supportive of each other, and were always ready to offer assistance in any way possible.

Basically, thoughtful planning, willingness to dedicate time, and a team of committed people are really all that is needed to put on a successful book drive.