*Note* The below blog post is a guest blog from our Twitter friend Sage (@sagemauldin). 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, Sage!

My name is Sage A. Mauldin. I’m a Psychology major, senior, at the University of Oklahoma, and a staunch reader of sorts (i.e., philosophy, psychology, religion, politics, humor). My three wheelhouse passions are everything-psychology, writing and, of course, reading. Not until recently did I discover Better World Books through a friend of mine, Jennifer Williams, who has recently wrote a blog on here about “The Power of Reading.”

For my blog, I would like to share with you my reading experience, how it began, and why books hold a special place in my life. So, let us begin, shall we? My reading experience began a few years ago, after my brother passed away, when my depression pushed me down a deep, unsettling abyss. I was there for about a year. During this time, I was lost, I felt hopeless, I became overly pessimistic, and I forgot who I was. This was when, from nowhere, chance came along; it snatched me from my dismal state, gave me direction and motivation, and restored the hope, optimism, and faith I thought I had lost forever. The Shack, a fictional novel, written by William P. Young, was my light of visceral meaning; it came to my aid and restored me.

Just after I read the novel was when my passion for reading blossomed. So I ventured on to read Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’ books. Her work was focused predominately on death, grief, and dying. She was a Psychiatrist in Europe who volunteered as a M.D. for the Red Cross and believed everyone had a destiny in life; it was she, more than anyone else, who inspired me to become a Psychologist.

After taking a plethora of psychology courses at my university, I now pretend-diagnose and analyze authors and characters from the books I read. Sometimes an author has a history of addiction (Ozzy Osbourne), or a character is forced to keep his sexual desires on a canvas to avoid punishment or death from the strict aristocracy of England during the Victorian Era (Basil from Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray), or in some cases, an author, like Mary Shelley, who wrote Frankenstein, wants to know my thoughts or opinions about an issue. She asks, “Is it right or wrong for an egotistical, obsessed, insecure madman-of-a-scientist to bring back to life a once deceased man, only to keep him from having a love life or freedom?” Just so you know, Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein is a narcissist—anyone would be wrong to do that.

These make-believe counseling sessions I have with an author or character are always enjoyable. I ask questions, find answers, then, after I finish a book, I write an analysis, which usually takes thirty minutes.

The reason why books hold a special place in my life is because any book, if you allow it, can fix a broken heart or pure a corrupted mind; it can take you into its pages, teach you a thing or two about life, inspire you, give you life, like it gave me, and can, depending on its quality, take you to a place where you’ve never been before. And if you’re a psychology wonk, (or any wonk, for that matter), like myself, you can make reading fun and original. Lastly, I would like to say thank you, Better World Books, for giving me this wonderful opportunity. You can follow me on Twitter @sagemauldin.

UPDATE: Book for Like/Follow is still going strong. The info below is all correct except the end date which we do not have right now. We love how much you love this campaign and want to continue to empower you to share and make a difference with one click. Thank you!

Drum roll please…. over the next 30 days, you’re going to see some of the most exciting announcements we’ve ever shared. We admit, 30 days is a long time for a drum roll. So maybe take a breather here and there.

Starting today, July 15th, and running until our super secret surprise on August 15th, for every single new “like” on Facebook or “follow” on Twitter, we will donate a children’s book to a kid in need via Feed the Children.

Visit our Facebook and Twitter pages now to join the fun and make a big difference with just one click! If you’re already a fan, thank you so much! Please share the love to help bring books to kids who need them.
10 MILLION BUCKS

We’re not sure if you’ve noticed, but we have a ticker on the top of our blog, yep right there in the upper right hand corner. We also have one on our homepage. The ticker updates every second with the funds you’ve helped us raise for literacy & libraries with every donation and purchase and with the number of books we have reused or recycled together with you.

If you look closely, you will see that the ticker is getting very close to $10 million raised for literacy and education initiatives at home and around the world. Y’all should be so proud of yourselves for helping us raise such a significant amount of money to to spread imagination and opportunity to truly make this a better world. Thank you!

Here is where some of your purchase money is going:

Children in 200 local communities across the US will be provided with computers to access Wonderopolis from the National Center for Family Literacy.

220 prisoners will receive GED test preparation materials and dictionaries so they can earn a GED and have viable options for work when they are released with the Prison Book Program.

Teaching 65 teachers in 18 rural elementary schools to get 1,876 children reading and writing in their classrooms and put 3,708 books intro circulation in rural Guatemala with Cooperative for Education.

Donated over $362,000 granted to  Invisible Children to help educate refugee children and former child soldiers in Northern Uganda.

Donated over $463,000 for Room to Read’s child education programs in Laos and Cambodia.

Contributed more than $1.9 million to college service clubs who have run book drives.

Directly sent more than 4.5 million books to Books for Africa, the National Center for Family Literacy, and Feed the Children.Stay tuned as we count up to $10 million… and please continue donating pre-loved books and buying your books from www.betterworldbooks.com to help us reach our goal of hitting $10 million raised by the end of August.August 15th Super Mysterious Mystery AnnouncementAugust 15th we will be making a massive announcement that will change the course of Better World Books’ history. Stay tuned and feel free to guess what it might be by commenting below and on our social networks using #bwbaugust15.

FAQ on “Like to Give”

Books have always held sway over my life.  To be frank, I tend to neglect other tasks in my life (house cleaning, cooking, grading papers) when I have a book calling my name.  I would rather spend money on books than jewelry.  My monthly book budget is usually larger than my monthly clothes budget (and I love clothes).  Books are my Muse and my Siren.

Before I go any further, I should introduce myself.  My name is Jennifer Williams.  I currently reside in Oklahoma.  I teach 8th, 9th, 10th grade pre-AP English and 12th grade AP English for a small, rural school.  In fact, I started the pre-AP program at the school.  The enrollment has exploded since I began the program two years ago.  Yes, I’m so proud!  During my career, I have taught 8th-12th grades; I have taught at-risk students, traditional students, advanced students, and special needs students.  I have been married for fifteen years to my high school sweetheart and have an amazing thirteen-year-old daughter.

Now that you know me a little better, let us return to my obsession.  I began reading when I was four and have been passionate in the thirty-one years since (go ahead, do the math: I’m thirty-five).  I do not remember the first book I read, but I vividly remember many since.  I have always been an introspective person, rather a loner.  I have always been fascinated with people and their idiosyncrasies (or idiocies).  I come from a family with many anger issues.

We will be alive and well in the social media world with y’all next week while we’re traveling and have some awesome news to share with you in a few days so stay tuned!

J.R.R. Tolkien once said “All that is gold does not glitter; Not all those who wander are lost.” Here are our top ten audio book picks for your journey…

Did you know that we have new Great Reads suggestions on our homepage almost every week?! If you have suggestions please comment…

We would love to hear from you about your summer travels and favorite reads to bring along the way!

“’We must strive to be like the moon.’ An old man in Kabati repeated this sentence often… the adage served to remind people to always be on their best behavior and to be good to others. He said that people complain when there is too much sun and it gets unbearably hot, and also when it rains too much or when it is cold. But, no one grumbles when the moon shines. Everyone becomes happy and appreciates the moon in their own special way. Children watch their shadows and play in its light, people gather at the square to tell stories and dance through the night. A lot of happy things happen when the moon shines. These are some of the reasons why we should want to be like the moon.” I highlighted these wise words in Ishmael Beah’s A Long Way Gone my fourth year of college and penned in a smiley face with my shaky pen.

This analogy of the sky threads through the entire book as a spirit of perspective during a real-life nightmare unfolding with each new bleak sentence. Beah was kidnapped and forced to be a child soldier during the civil war in Sierra Leone. There were nights when the hope of the moon was all that kept him alive.

I suffered from my own nightmares of what would happen when I woke up and continued to read about what Beah would face next. Spliced among these nightmares, I also had dreams of serving as the child soldier rehabilitation counselor that Beah fondly remembers. I made a conscious decision to learn every single thing I could about this “dark” continent so I could move there upon graduation and fix it.

Little did I know this intentional academic journey would change my life forever. My idealism would be tested, my heart broken many times over, my mind opened so wide I had trouble focusing it again and my stomach destroyed. I would also slowly learn to be a little more like the moon thanks to the bright light inside so many kind Africans along the way. And rather than my fixing their problems, they would fix my heart.

One year later serving in the Peace Corps in Madagascar I, too, understood the power of the moon. The fact that I saw the same moon as my friends and family who seemed a whole universe away was so comforting. I chased my shadow with the children in my village and danced under it with fellow volunteers. I felt its peace and its grace – much like the young ladies who frolicked across the red dusty roads with baskets and buckets piled high atop their heads.

Beah also wrote that “some nights the sky wept stars that quickly floated and disappeared into the darkness before our wishes could meet them.” Two years after being enveloped by the moon, the mangoes and the mangroves of Madagascar, I found myself in Northern Uganda staring up at the most star-filled sky I’d ever sat beneath and feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders. I was trying to remember that if God could place each one of these stars, surely He could place me where I needed to be. Fourteen bumpy offroading hours later I was being serenaded by the freshest faces of the African Children’s Choir in Kampala.

These little children come from the most vulnerable of situations across Africa. They are members of child-led households, children of subsistence farmers who do not have enough crops to feed all of the hungry mouths in their family, orphans of AIDS and genocide, victims of civil war and political upheaval that leave them displaced. Yet these precious young people have the sweetest grins, most contagious giggles and best ideas of most Ivy-Leaguers and celebrities I know. They are the perfect example of the hope and dignity across Africa. With the chance for an education, these children shine even brighter than the moon.

One of the only moments in my own life when I have truly felt like the moon was when I sat with friends and family and watched my documentary about the Choir on CNN. The amazing young people sang, danced, shared their story, shocked people and changed the lives of viewers around the world. These children and their continent changed my life as well. I realized that the moon must feel so fulfilled every night when it gives its light to the world thanks to my one small chance to share a glimmer of hope.

After trying various routes to make my little bit of difference in this world, I learned that education was the answer. Better World Books is the perfect way to bring together businesses, non-profits, students, professionals, grandparents and babies in the name of ending world poverty (as cliché as it sounds) one book at a time!

Take a moment to sit back and feel like the moon (and share your stories of being like moon with us)!

The volunteers of Prison Book Program, located near Boston, MA, were delighted to learn that our grant proposal won a Spring 2011 Literacy and Education in Action Program (LEAP) award.  Our proposal related to the General Equivalency Diploma (GED), providing a comprehensive GED test-prep guide and an English dictionary to approximately 220 prisoners throughout the United States.

According to the Department of Justice, 77% of US prisoners have not received a high school diploma. Yet GEDs are necessary for almost any job. A New York Department of Corrections study showed that prisoners who earn their GED are up to 14% less likely to return to prison within the next three years. Given that at least 90% of the 650,000 prisoners incarcerated every year will eventually re-enter society, gaining critical education skills is paramount.

Many prisoners work toward their GED while in prison, and while we frequently get requests for GED materials from our prisoner patrons, we are not usually able to fulfill those requests due to normal budgetary constraints.  Thankfully, the LEAP grant has enabled us to build a program around this important educational goal, while collecting data from the participants in order to do our own primary research.

Any incarcerated individual wishing to participate in the program must complete and return a survey which asks questions about their past educational experience and intended plans to take the GED program.

As of July 2011, over 20 prisoners from 12 states have successfully completed the survey, been accepted into the program, and have been sent the GED materials as a direct result of this program.   The initial surveys from these individuals reveal some interesting, if not surprising, information including reasons why people left school — “the streets got a hold of me,” “made bad decisions,” “dropped out to start work.” In general, the recipients report that they generally enjoyed school “somewhat,” but that they like learning “a lot”.

We think prisoners that fit the profiles like those we have received will be excellent candidates for undertaking the effort needed to self-study, follow up to schedule and take the exam when ready, and gain this critical credential.

Over the course of the coming months, we will facilitate the distribution of the remainder of the GED materials covered by the LEAP grant to additional qualified candidates. We will also follow up with participants to learn the status of their GED journey, track if they remain incarcerated or get released. Then we will draw connections between the acquisition of the GED and educational success and personal growth both while incarcerated and after release (if applicable).  This is a long-term project and we look forward to what we will learn as a result.  Watch for periodic updates, testimonials from program participants, and more.

“I would like to express my appreciation for your kindness and dedication to putting substance back into the word ‘corrections,’ also for assisting me through such trying times with tools to free myself mentally. Thanks for unlocking the gates.”
- from a prisoner from Sussex, IL

Thank you so much to our donors and customers who make the LEAP donations possible. We could not help bring about a better world without each one of you!

Freedom of Speech

Serving for Freedom

Megan and her team in uniform

We’d love to hear from you! What are you doing to celebrate freedom this weekend?

by BWB Quality Assurance Specialist, Janet Robinson Stevens

I am writing you from the hotel lobby of the Casa Adino Centro in Miaflores Lima Peru. Lima is to my surprise a desert region snuggled between the Andes mountains and the Pacific Ocean. It never rains here. We took a guided tour today and our guide told us that because it is so dry here that if the people did not clean every day, within two days they would be able to write their names on the table tops inside their homes. However, the humidity ranges from 85 to 100% daily, so even though it is cool you still sweat.

The people here are very kind and thoughtful and patient, especially with my Spanish (or lack there of).

On our first day after our arrival we went to a Catholic school in the hills within one of the many districts here. When we arrived we were welcomed as if we were rock stars. It was very grand. The children were waving flags and cheering. They were all dressed in uniforms and presented banners and their flag. We were serenaded by the children, and then we turned the corner and saw just how many children this school supports. There were over 800 kids there. It blew my mind. Everyone is so incredibly kind and generous.

The children made us pictures and signed there names to them. From just this one school alone we have enough pictures and letters of thanks that we could create our own mural at work. The community is 90% Catholic and very devout. The city is rich in its history, there are buildings here that date back to the 1500’s.

From what I understand they are more prepared for a major earthquake then Los Angeles, California is. The buildings are made with bamboo and clay which allows the buildings to move when the earth shakes. What they are not prepared for is if it were to rain, our guide explained.

Now, on to the difficult part. It is clearly easy to see just how much need there is here. I went to Portland, Oregon with my daughter Ashley and my niece Crissy earlier this year to do the “twilight tour” and the homes we saw on the mountains and the hills were beautiful, but the bonus to having that kind of home is the view. NOT HERE. These shacks or shanties on the mountains and hills are the epitome of destitution. They have no running water, and the water itself is not safe to drink even if they did. There are no streets on the hills, only dirt walk ways and boarded walks. The shanties are closely packed together and they are everywhere.

I was trying to understand the dynamic of the different demographics of the people here. From what I see there are a few very wealthy, there are some middle class that have nice homes and a good living and there are numerous poor – to omany to imagine. This is why these Catholic schools are here. If it were not for these schools, the children may not be able to even eat. They have breakfast, lunch and a snack each day at school. Eating is one of life’s basic necessities. The schools provide that. However there are many children out there that are either too far away from the school or they have no parents so they have to spend their time scrounging for food. These people come down from the mountains to find a better life, only to end up in these slums.

Luis, our guide this day, is also the English teacher at the school. Both he and his wife along with many others have dedicated their lives to helping at this school. Luis said there are three choices in this life – good or bad – as he put it. There is going to school, going to the jail or going to the cemetery. So go to school. As harsh as that sounds, it is the truth. Anyone that has ever had to struggle in their life financially understands what it does psychologically to ones self esteem.

Even I have had my own share of struggles, so it is easy to see how one would end up in jail or the cemetery without an education. These kids have the potential just like anyone else to succeed. I had the opportunity to ask one class full of older girls if they could do anything that they wanted what it would be. The responses I got were not what I was expecting. I figured I would hear dreams such as to be a ballerina or an actress. What they said was I want to be a lawyer, I want to be a doctor. How could anyone deny a child such a determined dream? When prompted for what the school’s needs are, the teachers asked for desks for the kids and a computer among other important items. If you are interested in helping or would like to comment you can respond to this blog post.

I will write more soon and post my pictures as well as soon as I find an SD port… hugs to all and God bless, Janet.

PS – buenos noches!

Where could a textbook be more important than in a school where students will eagerly sit in the hot desert sand for a chance to learn from teachers who have little more education than themselves?  Where could a thrilling story bring a greater sense of escape or hope than in a camp where refugees have been stuck for eight years, with no prospect of returning home?How can we get Darfuri refugees the books they need? You can help by simply buying a book for yourself.

Credit: UNHCR / H. Caux
Caption: A young mother attends class with her baby on her back in Djabal refugee camp. Many girls drop out of school or attend classes very irregularly once they get married and even more when they have babies. Early marriages and early pregnancies- as young as 11 or 12- prevent girls from having even basic education. Djabal, eastern Chad, August 10, 2007.

About the Book

July Pick

We invite you to join the discussion of “Still Alice” below and to suggest more books for us to cover in the club!

PS – For our August BWB Book Club, we are revitalizing the LIVE BOOK CLUB EVENT! Our pick is “The Blue Sweater” by my personal hero and mentor, Jacqueline Novogratz who founded the Acumen Fund. Note that for the first 5,000 copies of “The Blue Sweater” purchased from our website, a $15 donation per book will be made to Acumen Fund, a nonprofit that invests in transformative businesses to solve the problems of poverty. We will be co-sponsoring a live event in Atlanta, Georgia with Atlanta for Acumen and will be joined on Skype by representatives from the Acumen Fund. If you are in the Atlanta area or have friends here, please email Erin at 11@betterworldbooks.com for more details. We will also be including our Book Clubers around the world via Skype and live-blogging of the event!

Why is C.S. Lewis so great? It might prove difficult to answer this question in one blog post, but here’s to the ol’ college try. It helps that I get to focus on one work, Surprised by Joy. And there is really no other book by Lewis that I would rather write about.

When the question, “Has a book ever changed your life?” appeared in my Twitter feed, I had to answer; and the book that stood out above the rest in my mind was Lewis’s autobiography, Surprised by Joy. I read this book during my junior year in college, and it profoundly shaped my thinking and living. And I have to say, I really do like it even better than the Narnia series, and some of Lewis’s other more “popular” works. To really understand Lewis’s genius, along with the warm complexity of his heart and personality, one must read Surprised by Joy.

This work is an autobiography, or as Lewis entitled it, “The Shape of my Early Life.” But, as he states in his Preface, it “gets less like a general autobiography as it goes on.” The central subject of Lewis’s autobiography isn’t Lewis himself, and he even lets us know a time or two that he is omitting significant and potentially interesting parts of his story, because they do not pertain to his subject. Lewis writes his autobiography for the sake of exploring what he calls “Joy.” In chapter 1, “The First Years,” Lewis lets us know that “The central story of my life is about nothing else.”

Lewis begins his story with his childhood, and his early impressions of his family. He includes the importance of his parents’ contrasting personalities, and the friendship he had with his brother, Warren. Lewis narrates the death of his mother from Cancer, Warren’s transition to boarding school and Lewis’s own boarding school experiences a few years later. All these episodes brought intense grief and suffering into Lewis’s life in different forms, but he focuses on them in as much as they led him to long for Joy.

Lewis’s “boyhood” brought much more suffering than the “prosaic happiness” that characterized his early childhood. But Lewis’s boyhood also caused him “poignant nostalgia” when he looked back on it, which is something his childhood did not do. He tells us that it was because “[i]t is not settled happiness but momentary joy that glorifies the past.” In the midst of trial and suffering, moments of desire began to break in unexpectedly, surprising Lewis (hence the book’s title). He didn’t know it early on, but these moments of longing and desire were for Joy – an experience of perfected, unspoiled goodness – that humans catch glimpses of in certain fleeting moments.

This “Joy” that Lewis is so concerned about is the really important connection for me, and why I love this book so much. We all experience this longing for Joy when we encounter true goodness and beauty, and that moment of encounter ends. This can happen in a moment with a special person that we wish would last longer, or in a vacation that ends too soon, or whenever we desire something in life to be what it isn’t and that we know it should be.  Lewis puts it like this: “[The desire for Joy] is…an unsatisfied desire which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction. I call it Joy, which is here a technical term and must be sharply distinguished both from Happiness and from Pleasure. Joy (in my sense) has indeed one characteristic, and one only, in common with them; the fact that anyone who has experienced it will want it again.”

In 1931, C.S. Lewis converted from atheism to full-blown Christianity (and not just theism, which was an earlier step in his conversion). Finally, Lewis was able to make much fuller sense of why mankind is so troubled with this unfulfilled desire. Allow me to share one longer quote from the last chapter: “But what, in conclusion, of Joy? for that, after all, is what the story has mainly been about….I now know that the experience, considered as a state of my own mind, had never had the kind of importance I once gave it. It was valuable only as a pointer to something other and outer. While that other was in doubt, the pointer naturally loomed large in my thoughts. When we are lost in the woods the sight of a signpost is a great matter. He who first sees it cries, ‘Look!’ The whole party gathers round and stares. But when we have found the road and are passing signposts every few miles, we shall not stop and stare. They will encourage us and we shall be grateful to the authority that set them up. But we shall not stop and stare, or not much; not on this road, though their pillars are of silver and their lettering of gold.”

I read Surprised by Joy in my college years, and it’s Lewis’s philosophy of Joy that continues to infuse itself into every part of who I am, and is why I keep coming back to this book. And I’m leaving out so many great parts of the story: the lively places Lewis brings to life with his incredible narration, his experiences with combat in WWI, and his conversations with J.R.R. Tolkien among others. During those important years of my life, while looking ahead to the looming decisions of career and marriage, as well as looking back with regret at past mistakes, Lewis helped me see that all our moments of desire that end up diverted or unfulfilled simply serve as signposts. He helped me, and helps me still to found my life on hope that’s very real and solid. And to see purposes behind disappointment and suffering that are bigger than me. Lewis said in another work “we read to know we are not alone.” And in Lewis I can sincerely say I’ve found a great friend.

You may recall last year’s international trip to Africa, which included book drive winner Audrey (see a short video about her experience). Or our January 2011 trip to Oakland with NCFL which included two librarians. Well, here is an introduction to this year’s travelers:

Chelsea Shover, Harvard Book Drive Volunteer
Jody Weseman, Cal Poly Book Drive Volunteer
Reid Platt, Operations Manager, Scanning
Carol Devorkian, Bibliographer, Antiquarian, Rare, and Collectible books
Catarina Gutierrez, Manager, Regional Manager, Library Book Acquisitions
La’Kita Anderson, Regional Manager: Campus and Library Acquisitions
Janet Stevens, Quality Assurance Specialist
Kreece Fuchs, Co-founder and VP of Operations

By way of further introduction here is some background from Chelsea:

I worked with the book drive through Harvard’s Habitat for Humanity chapter. Partnering with BWB is the best way to get the most use out of all the great books Habitat receives during student move out, from libraries, and at our donation centers around campus. I volunteered to help with the books component of our recycling program because I have always loved reading and just love being around books. As we sorted and packed the books, I imagined how they could be reused and enjoyed by new owners anywhere in the world.

-Chelsea Shover, Harvard Book Drive Volunteer

And here are a few words from Jody on how she got involved:

I held a book drive with BWB because the volunteer tourism program I coordinate for Cal Poly is in great need of funding. The cost of the trips are often too much for struggling students but I wanted to make sure students have the opportunity to explore outside their positions of privilege and give back during their academic breaks. Cal Poly’s Alternative Breaks program supplements the lessons learned in the classroom with real life experience. An example of the work done through Cal Poly’s Alternative Breaks is: tutoring children in failing school districts in New Orleans or preparing and serving meals in Harlem’s Community Kitchen.

Jody Weseman, Cal Poly Book Drive Volunteer

Books are an essential part of education and here at Teach Twice our books serve a double purpose. Imagine one book providing an education for two children, worlds apart. Teach Twice captures cultures of the world in children’s books, by partnering with community authors and illustrators from developing nations and publishing their renditions of local folklore and legends. The children’s books are then sold in the U.S. with the hope that our consumers get a glimpse of life in these vibrant cultures. The book revenues are then cycled back into the education systems of the developing community from which the stories originate.

Beginning our journey in January, we have been very busy. Over the past few months we have begun turning our idea into a reality by making connections with authors and gaining support from people like you!

We are currently working in Uganda, among other countries, to create our very first book! We aim to include legends, tribal stories, and more in one children’s book. Our hope is to encourage Ugandans to share their rich culture with the world so that others can have a better understanding of their country. The book’s first story will be about the people of Baganda’s creation myth that has been passed down from generations!

At Teach Twice, we hope to share culture from around the world in order to increase our understanding and to further our education. We hope you join us and continue to support Better World Books as we utilize our own ability to read great books and seek to provide the empowerment and enjoyment

of literacy to others around the world! Learn more at www.teachtwice.org. Be a part of the story of ending illiteracy by supporting us on our Facebook or Twitter page!

Cooperative for Education’s (CoEd) Culture of Reading Program (CORP) delivers training in effective reading instruction to rural teachers in one such community in Guatemala and provides them with resources to facilitate reading in the classroom. Better-trained teachers help their students improve their reading and writing skills so that they can achieve more in school, continue their education longer, and overcome the challenges caused by low literacy.

The program provides sustainable, ongoing support to beneficiaries. CORP delivers 60 hours of group instruction in effective reading pedagogy. Teachers also receive individual support and approximately 72 high-quality children’s books.

Support from the Better World Books LEAP Grant has helped train 65 teachers in 18 rural elementary schools, get 1,876 children reading and writing in their classrooms and put 3,708 books into circulation in rural Guatemala.

Teachers use the books to practice strategies for reading aloud, to gain children’s interest and to engage them in critical thinking. Students act out stories, bringing the text to life. They also retell them, using their own words and drawings to demonstrate their understanding. Children further develop essential literacy skills by authoring original stories on topics or themes important to their lives.

CORP’s simple and straightforward methodology rapidly builds Spanish vocabulary, strengthens reading comprehension, builds confidence and competence working with the written language, and makes the learning process more meaningful.

Studies indicate that children in the program achieve significant gains in reading comprehension scores—a 16% increase after two years in the program (compared to children at the same age before CORP was introduced). Teachers also report improvement in student interest and an increase in the number of children passing to the next grade level.

You can learn more about our LEAP initiative with CoEd here.

What do you think it would be like to grow up in the conditions mentioned above? Have you heard any inspiring stories of children breaking the cycle of poverty through education? Share your thoughts and stories with us below!

Be a good role model.
If there is one nugget of wisdom that lawyer and superdad Atticus Finch imparts to his kids by way of his actions in To Kill A Mockingbird, it’s to do the right thing no matter what. Even in the face of cantankerous townspersons and societal prejudice, Mr. Finch insists on taking the high ground instead of the easy road.

Nobody’s perfect.
Sometimes we can learn in spite of certain fathers, instead of from them. Life can really throw curveballs at you when there are three kids (and a kingdom) to manage, as shown by the plight/foibles of King Lear. When those mischief-makers get your goat, it’s best to take a deep breath and count to 10 before saying something you will regret. It sure beats having those decisions you made in anger come back to bite you in the breeches later in life, when you’re old and talking Crazy Old Man Talk.

Keep that chin up.
The father in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road shows us that a dad never gives up. Sure, not many of us are wandering around a post-apocalyptic wasteland with little more than a shopping cart and an icky cough… but it’s crucial to keep your eyes on the prize and not let the world around you get you down. That’s the spirit!

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
And by lemonade, I of course mean sweet high-octane Ostrich Races, as in the case of the learned paterfamilias in Johann David Wyss’s The Swiss Family Robinson. Shipwrecked in the East Indies with his wife and sons during a voyage to Australia, ol’ dad makes due with what supplies they have and can find, becoming the original McGuyver all while teaching his boys important life lessons at every juncture.

Those are just a few. What lessons have YOU learned from dads in books?

When I joined Sigma Tau Delta, in the spring of 2010, I had no idea that a year later I would find myself as an intern for Better World Books (BWB), in Alpharetta, GA.  Before becoming a member of Sigma Tau Delta, I had helped the group with a book drive through BWB, and since then, we have completed two more! As a future English teacher, I loved the idea of working with a company that helped promote literacy around the world, while helping our campus become more sustainable.

After completing our second book drive through Better World Books, I was informed by my BWB contact that there was a unique opportunity available that I should apply for – a 6-week summer internship for a Sigma Tau Delta member who had worked on a book drive through Better World Books! Thinking it was a long shot, but absolutely something I was interested in, I sent in my resume and hoped for the best!  After some interviews and a lot of hoping and wishing, it was announced at the 2011 Sigma Tau Delta Convention that I would be the summer intern at Better World Books!

While in Georgia, (a state that I have never visited before) opportunities that I would never have imagined before have come up for me! I am living at Emory University, in housing set aside for summer interns in the area.  With this community of interns, I am able to share my experience and the experiences of others from all different internships in the area, helping to make my learning experience exponentially larger. In addition to working on research projects in the office, I’ll meet with the managers and VPs of several departments within BWB, allowing me to understand as many aspects of BWB as possible, and the people who make it the unique company that is it. Within the next few weeks, I get to participate in “Atlanta Streets Alive!” on June 25, and hopefully the Amplifying Education book drive with the band Dispatch on June 21!

As I am nearing the half-way point of my internship (I can’t believe how quickly it is flying by!), I have already learned so much from my time with the BWB team!  At BWB, I am constantly reminded that my thoughts and actions are meaningful. While some college students spend their internships making copies and delivering coffee, I have never questioned that I am valued member of the team, and that the research I am doing is important to the company and to the Better World they are striving to create. Everyone here at BWB has made a huge effort to reach out and welcome me into the office, while encouraging me to speak up and ask questions often.  This experience has not only given me insight into the world of social enterprise and good business, but that every single person involved in that business should be valued and encouraged.  This has been (and will continue to be) a wonderful learning and growing experience for me! Thanks BWB!

“Elias” also personally changed my life. Thanks to the creative community work I led at the University of Virginia, Dispatch asked me to work with them that summer. The people I met around New England the summer after graduating have made a lasting positive impact on my life. Through Dispatch that summer, I met the African Children’s Choir and later produced a documentary on them for CNN, launching my career and achieving my dreams. I also befriended a filmmaker who I later collaborated with on “Rescued” after the devastating earth quake in Haiti.

Thanks to one band and one song, there are hundreds of thousands of young people out there just like me who have decided that we can make this world a better place. That vision is what brought me to Better World Books. Just like a song, I’ve learned, one book can make a world of difference in the life of a person, a country and our whole universe!

Dispatch is at it again! This time, raising awareness and funding for education in America. Their campaign “Amplifying Education” is a multi-platform program that will put new teachers in schools, improve school facilities, provide books and supplies to students and provoke discussion about education in the United States. Not only will a portion of every ticket sold on Dispatch’s Summer 2011 Tour will go to sponsor multiple Teach for America corps members in each market and a founding City Year Denver team during the 2011-2012 school year, we have also teamed up with the band to collect pre-loved books in a massive book drive at every show!

By selling the donated books online, we generate cash funds for important literacy projects. Dispatch fans are being encouraged to round up one or more gently used books (think books you would give to a friend) and bring them to the yellow school bus parked in front of the venue each night. Better World Books will sell the books online, contributing a portion of all revenue to support Amplifying Education’s end-of-tour donations to help restock the New Orleans Public Libraries.

“The Friends of the New Orleans Public Library would like to thank Dispatch and Better World Books for all they have done to raise literacy awareness and promote volunteerism throughout the world. This year New Orleans Public Library’s Summer Reading Program is expected to surpass pre-Katrina numbers. It is due largely in part to the generosity of these organizations that the Friends of the New Orleans Public Library are able to provide literacy services, books and programs to a community that continues to rebuild itself,” says Katelyn Ramsey Castleberry, Exectuve Director of The Friends of the New Orleans Public Library.

Check our our first shipment of empty book boxes for the band. This first weekend of shows, fans collected over 800 books in 19 full boxes!

An Education Village will be set up in each venue on every night of the Dispatch tour to highlight the work of leading organizations working in the field of education. By learning more about specific ways they can volunteer in their own community, Dispatch fans will be encouraged to stay involved long after the tour has moved on.

Throughout the Amplifying Education campaign, Dispatch will offer free music downloads from its 2009 Kennedy Center performance as a “thank you” for taking action. Fans will receive 5 songs for signing up at AmplifyingEducation.org, 5 songs for taking an online action for education, and 5 songs for taking a local action for education on the Dispatch tour. Helping others has never sounded so good!

Check out these photos from Dispatch’s first shows at Red Rocks in Colorado this weekend.

Photo Credit: Steve J. Rosenfield

What song or book has changed you life? Tell us how below…

The “BWB Fund”, though, is just the tip of the iceberg. BWB has raised a total of over $2.3 million in funding for BFA and directly donated over 2 million books, mostly college textbooks to their efforts. So while the “BWB Fund for BFA” is concluding, BWB continues to raise funds for BFA and other non-profit literacy partners with every book sold.

Celebration of the “BWB Fund” was marked by a party attended by about 100 people. BFA and BWB executives and employees were in attendance but the vast majority of the crowd were volunteers and supporters of BFA, without whom the impressive milestone of shipping over 1.4 million books to Africa through the “BWB Fund” would not have been possible.

BFA’s founder Tom Warth celebrated the success of the Books for Africa to date, but stressed how much more is left to do. “We’ve shipped over 23 million books to Africa, but Africa has 400 million children. The US only has about 70 million. There’s so much more we need to do,” he said.

BWB’s Vice President of Marketing, John Ujda, discussed the importance of the partnership, not only for the non-profit, but for BWB as well. “We love the work BFA is doing in this world. This partnership is an instrumental piece of Better World Books’ social mission. We are very proud of the work we’ve done together thus far.”

Music at the event was provided by BFA’s own warehouse band, and demonstrated the energy that volunteers from all over the community bring to this cause.

Room to Read’s Girls’ Education program ensures that Inkam has the supplies, tools and mentoring she needs to complete her secondary education and succeed in her dreams. Meet Inkam below, and see why investing in Inkam and others like her through Room to Read’s Girls’ Education program can change a life. (From http://blog.roomtoread.org/)

Better World Books accepts used books on behalf of Room to Read and their supporters. Proceeds from these books support Room to Read!

Since 2004, BWB has raised nearly $500K to support Room to Read, including building libraries and providing local language children’s books.

There are several ways you can support Room to Read through Better World Books: run a book drive, donate books to a drive on your campus and purchase books from our website. Proceeds from all sales benefit global literacy programs, including Room to Read.

To learn more about Room to Read’s other noble partners click here… and to check out more of the literacy, education and opportunity efforts we support, visit this site.

People ask me all the time what does it really mean when you say “Better World Books delivers meaningful social and environmental impact” through its core business?

Memorial Day weekend always marks the beginning of summer and typically means time outside, under the sun, and perhaps on the water.  This year, I aim to do all three… but after my adventures of the past year, I’ll view the weekend and its Monday holiday in a different way.

At Better World Books, we’re in the business of doing well by doing good. As a result, when I run across other businesses that have social impact built-in, they jump out at me, and many times I can’t resist sharing them with others.

I met Sherry Comes at a conference and learned about her extraordinary social enterprise, Coffeecakes.com. Not only do I love the fact that Coffeecakes.com was the first online coffee shop in Denver and that they sell specialty food and other gourmet gift items on the Internet, but I admire their greater mission:  to help find a cure for Neurofibromatosis (NF) and to help support families affected by the disease.

Sherry’s son was diagnosed with NF in 2005 and instead of letting this depress and compress her, she is fighting back through the power of Capitalism.

In addition to raising funds for NF, CoffeeCakes.com also supports cancer research, local fund-raisers and other non-profit organizations. They also work to raise awareness among women of the dangers of heart disease. Sherry was recently awarded The Denver Business Journal’s “Outstanding Women in Business Award” for her exceptional contribution to local business and the community at large.

Oh, and here’s one other fascinating tidbit. You know the bad rep fruitcakes have, especially around the holidays? Apparently fruitcake is one of Sherry’s top sellers on Coffeecakes.com. So either the bad rep is an incorrect stereotype, or they’re making good fruitcake in a world of mediocre fruitcakes. Either way, I reckon I’ll try one.

Thank you, Sherry, for serving as an inspiration to me and my colleagues at Better World Books!

Know of other social enterprises we should check out? Give them a shout out below…

The first Monday of every month we will be posting “Ask the CEO” on Facebook, Twitter, and this blog (first installment below!). You can ask David questions about how BWB works, what he thinks about social enterprise in the news, what books he is reading, what he is proud of that BWB has recently engaged with etc. Then he’ll get back to you ASAP.

David Murphy will also be posting a monthly blog entry the first Monday of every month for you to learn more about what we’re up to and why we’re up to it.

Here are some of the questions and answers from our very first “Ask the CEO”

Q: How can you ship my order at no cost to me?

A: We include the shipping into the price of the book. We believe that it makes it much simpler than to wade through pages in the check out process. We also have great relationships with several major shippers, making our costs lower to ship, which are then passed on to you as savings.

Q: Can I send you back books from Israel?

A: We accept book donations from anywhere. Unfortunately, we can only pay for for the shipping of donated book from the US. However, when you buy a book from us, we pay for the shipping to anywhere in the world!

Q: I love books – actual books. To me, there is nothing better than fingering a page right before it is turned, or snugging my bookmark into the spine at the end of a good read. However, I am not blind to the boon electronic reading devices are enjoying these days. What are BWB’s plans for the future? How do you plan to stay viable and relevant in the midst of what looks to be a pretty big shift away one of my fave things – the printed word? Thanks!

A: We love books too! In the short term, this is a good thing for us because people are donating their physical books more and there is no shortage of people who want to buy them. In the long term, we will need to offer the books in whatever format our customers want them.

Q: Hello David – Any plans to visit Tanzania? Karibu!

A: No immediate plans for Tanzania this year, but each year we do have a lottery for all of our employees to have a chance of travelling with our major non-profit literacy partners to see how we make an impact. In July, a group of 6 employees will be traveling to Peru and Chile with Worldfund. Some of the trips in the past have included Ghana, Liberia, Brazil, Cambodia, Uganda, Capetown and Kampala.

Q: Why is the 5 cent payment to offset the carbon footprint an optional payment? Why not make it part of the price, and advertise it as ‘Five cents from every order goes to investing in green technology.”

A: We make the 3 to 5 cents optional as some of our customers are looking to save as much as possible, which is why BWB is great option! We allow our customers to “let their conscience be their guides”. Given that you are clearly passionate about the environment, you might be interested in the fact that we have a carbon-balanced policy (from offsetting shipping, to offsetting Operations). We have also won 2 EPA awards for our efforts: 2010 WasteWise Gold Achievement award winner in the Climate Change category, and the WasteWise Gold Award for Paper Reduction in 2009.

Thank you all so much for participating in the Better World Books community!

Better World Books was founded on the promise to help decrease illiteracy and poverty around the world.  One of the many ways we try to help is through our LEAP for Library grants.

Funds that support LEAP Grants come from books sold on www.betterworldbooks.com. Every purchase contributes to either a specific literacy fund or goes into our general literacy fund.  Money from our general literacy fund is used to support our LEAP Grants.  We were able to use $75,000 from that fund to help support the work libraries are doing for their communities.

We reached out to thousands of libraries across the world and asked them to submit projects which were designed to help their immediate community. After our literacy and library council received and reviewed approximately $3.5 million dollars in grant requests we chose 6 library grant winners.

It was a difficult decision as so many library grant submissions are designed to help alleviate the dire statistics mentioned above.

LEAP stands for Literacy and Education in Action Program. Through our LEAP grants, we fund literacy and educational nonprofits and libraries for specific projects – the front lines of the fight to reduce global poverty through education.

Thanks to YOU donating and buying books from us some amazing literacy efforts are taking place in communities across the globe! Highlights from the winners:  Street-children in Ecuador will now have mobile libraries to enjoy and learn from. In Washington DC, library workshops will teach the parents and caregivers techniques, strategies, and resources they need to share books, songs, and conversation that will boost their children’s readiness to learn to read when they enter school. A South Dakota Juvenile Services Center will provide at-risk teenagers with a variety of new, age-appropriate reading resources that support and encourage the establishment of lifelong reading habits. Meaningful literacy engagement will be provided in Pennsylvania for children with the autism spectrum disorder. The first public library in the indigenous Maya community of Chajul, Guatemala will expand and sustain to encourage literacy, creativity, and community. Abused and neglected children in Indiana will be uplifted through the gift of books which provide information and inspirational support with their care-workers.

The winners were just chosen and we are thrilled to announce our first LEAP for Library Grantees!

• Palms for Life Mobile Library Improvement and Expansion in Ecuador $13,350
• Hughes County Juvenile Services Center Library $6,350
• Limitless Horizons: The First Library for Eager Learners in Guatemala $11,350
• District of Columbia Library: STAR Club Program for Early Literacy $12,650
• Knox County Library: At Risk Children Reading Intervention Program $17,450
• South Park Township Public Library: A Different Way to Turn the Page: Multisensory Literacy Experience for Children Living with Autism Spectrum Disorders $13,850

We’d love for you to explore the details of each recipients award winning literacy programming ideas here: www.betterworldbooks.com/librarygrants.

If you know of any exceptional library programs please share the stories below… Thank you!

BWB’s 1st Employee from Better World Books on Vimeo.

Feel free to post any questions for Aaron below!

Can you imagine reciting Shakespeare by heart in the 3rd grade?

Robinson Shakespeare Company from Better World Books on Vimeo.

In 2008, Christy Burgess founded the Robinson Shakespeare Company at our first-ever literacy partner, the Robinson Community Learning Center in South Bend, Indiana.

Ever since their first performance, Macbeth, there has been huge success and buy in with students and parents. The Shakespeare Company works with youth in 3rd-12th grades.

Right now, the Company is working on The Tempest. The young actors are donating half of the proceeds from the play to Tsunami relief in Japan.

Not only is the program fun, it is also successful! In the English Speaking Union Shakespeare Monologue Competition, the Robinson actors won 1st place in each category in 2009 and in 2010 won five out of six. They also have placed in the top three in state every year they have participated.

Christy says “It’s not just about Shakespeare. It’s not my goal to make brilliant Shakespeare actors. The Robinson Shakespeare Company is about building self-confidence, self-esteem, the ability to speak publicly, and learning how to trust each other as an ensemble.”

“My favorite part is seeing the growth in the students. Tiana (photo below) was so nervous before she performed her first play, she said her tummy hurt.  Afterward, we talked about how much fun she had.  When her Notre Dame Shakespeare partner said she was nervous, Tiana patted her hand and told her about her own stage fright,” shares Christy.

Last year, Better World Books donated 40 scripts each for four Shakespeare shows to the program. This year, we are awarding the Robinson Shakespeare Company with a $10,000 grant through our LEAP program. The grant will fund a six week intensive summer Shakespeare program for inner city urban youth.

Hear from Robinson Shakespeare Company members:

• “I never thought I could actually go up on stage and act, so it gave me confidence”
• “Before I would read Shakespeare and not know what they were talking about and now I can read it and understand and make jokes about it.  The entire thing made me think that Shakespeare wasn’t a boring guy but that he was really cool.”
• “If I can conquer acting, I can pretty much conquer anything!”
• “I’m not a good team player; I don’t consider myself to be. I’d like to be, but I get annoyed really quickly.  I know what it feels like to be up there on stage and not feel like I’m getting it.  I couldn’t loose patience with other people, because I didn’t want people to loose patience with me.  I know other people were trying their hardest and it made me understand people more. I think it will transfer over to other activities that I have to do.”

When did you learn Shakespeare for the first time and how did it translate to your life? Share your story below…

From Mary Olson, BWB’s Outlet Store Manager -

“I recently read The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (the beginning of the Thursday Next series, which I highly recommend!). Thursday Next, the heroine of the story, is a character in the ‘real’ world who gets to cross over into the fictional world. During the course of the story she interacts within the classic, Jane Eyre, and the reader gets to see parts of the classic play out from Thursday’s perspective within the fictional world.

As I was reading, the story brought back memories of scenes from Jane Eyre, the movie, that I had watched with my mother when I was a little kid. There was so much I didn’t understand about the story, and I remember asking my mom to explain so many things. I was too young to read the book then, but after reading The Eyre Affair, I picked up Jane Eyre for the first time and absolutely loved it. Reading has always been important to my mom, an English professor; and that’s a priority she has passed on to me since childhood. Now we get to share books and recommend titles to each other and dialog and argue about different characters, plot lines, and deeper meanings; our intellectual interaction is a part of our ongoing relationship we both sincerely enjoy.

Reading through Jane Eyre, a story with such a strong and independent woman, reminded me of all of the mothers in my family: my Great Grandma Bradley (who lived to be just over 100!), my Grandma Mayes, my Grandma Olson, and my mother. I am blessed to have had so many remarkable women in my life, and I am proud of the heritage I have in my family because of them.”

Former slave and abolitionist writer Frederick Douglass said “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” In a society today dominated by TV shows, video games and computer screens, we are so excited to be celebrating the 92nd Annual Children’s Book Week with you! Books open the door to imagination and education for our children. They help us build strong children together – and to fulfill the dreams of heroes such as Douglass.

Removing economic and cultural barriers. Improving literacy skills and promoting healthy choices. Breaking inter-generational cycles of low literacy.

These are what the winners of the 2011 Better World Books/National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL) Libraries and Families Award are accomplishing. And thanks to the national recognition, each winner will receive $10,000 to expand upon its success.

Here’s a little more info about each program. Contact NCFL if you’re a library with programming serving families. They’d love to hear from you, and your experiences can help inform additional opportunities and spark ideas!

Dallas, TX:

The Every Child Ready to Read Dallas program, supported by the Friends of the Dallas Public Library, serves families with children newborn to 6 years old. More than 80 percent of the participants are Hispanic or African-American.

Workshops are conducted in libraries, community centers or schools to engage parent and child in hands-on interactive, literacy-based activities. After attending the workshop, 83 percent of families engage in more literacy activities at home.

The grant will bring workshops into the homes of the families who are unable to attend by creating home instructional DVDs in English and Spanish.

Queens, NY:

The Queens Library Family Literacy Program is an intensive program that has strong collaborative partnerships with museums, faith-based organizations, schools and other community-based organizations. The Queens program serves one of the nation’s most ethnically diverse counties. As a result, large majority of families see increased adult literacy skills, improved listening and academic skills for children, additional reading in the home, and even more time spent exercising.

The Queens program plans to use the award funding to help participants publish a cookbook and produce a newscast that will assist parents and children in building critical literacy skills together and making healthy choices.

San Diego, CA:

READ/San Diego, the adult and family literacy program of the San Diego Public Library, serves low-literate English-speaking parents, grandparents or caregivers with at least one child under age 5. It provides them with one-on-one literacy training for themselves, introducing families to the services of the public library, teaching parents how to read to their children and ensure they are ready for school. Free children’s books also are provided to help families create at-home libraries. A large majority of parents in the program are achieving their literacy goals, and children are entering school much more prepared.

The grant will allow the library to increase the volume of books it can circulate in the community, and to offer better activities to increase involvement

How have libraries played a positive role in your life? Comment below!

The wonderful poet Naomi Shihab Nye got them started with a first line:

I send my words out into the air, listening for yours from everywhere.

What words do you send out into the air?

What words do you listen for?

Celebrate Poetry Month and create a Global Poem for Change with LitWorld!

What comes next?

Submit a line of your own at litworld.org/poem and watch our Poem GROW at litworld.org/poemblog.

LitWorld needs Your Words to Change Worlds.

Share this announcement and help their poem soar around the world…

A brief history of the prize:

The first Pulitzer Prizes were awarded June 4, 1917 and they are now announced each April. The prize was founded by Joseph Pulitzer, a well established journalist and newspaper publisher.

You can dig deeper and learn more about the Pulitzer Prize by reading these books:

• Pulitzer Prize Editorials
• Written Into History
• Pulitzer: A Life in Politics, Print and Power
• An Adventure with a Genius: Recollections of Joseph Pulitzer

Congratulations to this year’s winners!

• Fiction: for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life – A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (Alfred A. Knopf)
• History: for a distinguished book on the history of the United States – The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery by Eric Foner (W. W. Norton & Company)
• Biography: for a distinguished biography or autobiography by an American author – Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow (The Penguin Press)
• Poetry: for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American poet – The Best of It: New and Selected Poems by Kay Ryan (Grove Press)
• Non-fiction: for a distinguished book of non-fiction by an American author that is not eligible for consideration in any other category – The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee (Scribner)

We are also happy for the other nominated works:

• The Privileges - Fiction
• The Surrendered – Fiction
• Confederate Reckoning: Power and Politics in the Civil War South – History
• Eden on the Charles: The Making of Boston - History
• The Publisher: Henry Luce and His American Century – Biography
• Mrs. Adams in Winter: A Journey in the Last Days of Napoleon – Biography
• The Common Man – Poetry
• Break the Glass - Poetry
• The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains - Non-fiction
• Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History - Non-fiction

Have YOU read any of these winning books? What did you like about them? Let this be your forum for Pulitzer Prize winner discussion…

Feel free to show your friends how smart you are by sharing this post. Thank you – we <3 books and you!

“How on earth will I be able to go 25 hours without saying a word? I still haven’t figured that out (and I know some of my coworkers have their doubts), but let me tell you what I do know: The Invisible Children Protection Plan is AWESOME, and it means huge things for protecting and rehabilitating LRA victims in central Africa.  So why am I participating in the 25 event? Because I can help raise money for The Protection Plan AND speak out (well, you know what I mean) against Joseph Kony’s war, all at one fell swoop! Get ready to join the movement, friends – it’s a beautiful day for changing the world!” shares Amy Clark, an Atlanta-based Account Representative for Better World Books.

Today, almost 100,000 activists all over the world are going quite to make a loud statement through their silence: the longest running war has got to stop and child soldiers must be redeemed!

The Protection Plan from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.

Many amazing individuals on the Better World Books staff are taking part in 25 today!

“I’m participating in Invisible Children 25 because I know exactly where my funds and efforts will go. Helping IC means helping end the LONGEST running war on Earth. I don’t consider myself a big talker but being silent so those without a voice can be heard is awesome! I talk to clients often so having an opportunity to inform them of the amazing things IC is doing this way will really help spread the message,” explained Catarina Gutierrez a Better World Books Regional Manager.

“I’m participating in 25 because I would like to honor Nate’s 25 years of life and his contribution to Invisible Children as well as bring awareness to the longest running civil war. It’s the little uncomfortable action that I can take to make a difference half way across the world!” Account Representative Kathy Marks says.

The efforts of “25” participants are helping Invisible Children build up their Protection Plan as the Lord’s Resistance Army moves from Northern Uganda and into the DR Congo, Central African Republic and Sudan.

“I choose to support Invisible Children because they are so deserving of our attention. Many organizations out there have good intentions–their hearts are certainly in the right place. IC stands out to me from this plethora of nonprofits because they are adequately prepared to take on practical solutions to improve the quality of life of the people they’re helping. They perform thorough research, they consider their options, and they construct the proposal that what will bring the most beneficial results. I mean–a radio communication system and a rehab center (which are both apart of the Action Plan that the 25 Campaign’s proceeds will go toward) are not ridiculous requests. It’s one thing to say, ‘I want to save the world,’ and it’s another to move forward with an impactful, but most importantly, feasible, agenda. IC practices great judgment and is successful at producing results. I know my contributions, efforts, and donations will be apart of something that works,” says Sam Lansford our Antique, Rare and Collectibles Specialist.

“While working at Better World Books allows us to do so much in support of our non-profit literacy partners, it’s so important to believe in their causes… participating in events like 25 allow us to make that happen and do more in support of an organization doing great things,” explains Joshua Fu, BWB Account Representative.

“Being a chatter box, 25 is HUGE undertaking for me. Try parenting without being able to speak to your kids! The reason I’m participating in 25 is simple: It’s amazing to be part of something that proactively save lives like the Protection Plan will. It’s also a great way to honor someone (Nate Henn) who selflessly gave everything he had to help others. In a way, I feel like a silent solider using the power of my voice; to speak out without saying a word,” Account Representative Stacey Bolnik says.

We partner with Invisible Children in many more ways than the 25 project. At Better World Books, we are dedicated to bringing education to these “invisible children” across Central East Africa – children who are kidnapped, raped and forced to kill in this 25 year long war. One of the most effective ways YOU can support our joint efforts is to make your books count for more by hosting a Better World Books drive, buying your books from BWB or even selling your textbooks to us to benefit Invisible Children. Become a part of the solution here: http://www2.invisiblechildren.com/bookdrive.

Our friends from Invisible Children came to our Atlanta office to show us their latest film, Tony. This powerful film brought tears of sadness and of hope to all of our eyes. After the screening, we swapped t-shirts in a celebration of our awesome partnership!

Check out the trailer for Tony:

Tony Bracelet: Trailer from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.

Another exciting way that Better World Books works with Invisible Children is through our Literacy and Education Action Program (LEAP). We have awarded Invisible Children with a $22,000 grant to implement their Teacher Exchange project in Northern Uganda. Our grant will enhance training and resources for six teachers affecting over 300 students, and this effect will expand over time. The program will bring six Ugandan teachers to the U.S. for a week long intensive teacher-training program after which they will return to their schools and spread what they’ve learned. Check here soon to hear how the teachers are doing.

Finally, we are so proud of our friends at Invisible Children for their presence on Oprah last week for the third time. You can see their interview with Oprah here: http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Invisible-Children/1.

Thank you so much for helping us support these amazing initiatives across Central East Africa with Invisible Children. Keep donating and buying books at BWB to continue making the world a better place one book at a time!

To celebrate Earth Day, over 60 BWBers in Indiana helped walk their adopted part of a local highway and pick up trash. Or volunteers collected 43 bags of trash! We’re so happy we could do our small part…

In Atlanta, we posed for this awesome photo wearing planet Earth’s (and BWBs) proud colors…

We also participating in a large office complex campus-wide event to share about our social and environmental practices.

If you’ve been inspired by this to GO GREEN, here are some helpful hints and ways that we save the Earth with less impact every single day:

At Home

●      Get fruits and vegetables from a local farm co-op

●      Buy only organic dairy products

●      Use heavy blinds to decrease energy needed to heat home

●      Recycle everything

●      Buy fair trade & organic when available

●      Shop local & eat local

●      Put thermostats on timers

●      Use CFL lightbulbs

●      Put hot water on low setting

●      Line dry clothes when possible

●      Wash all laundry in cold water

●      Use eco-friendly cleaning products

●      Buy items made with reclaimed materials when possible

●      Wired apartment with “kill-switches” that cut the electrical circuits at strategic points so that no energy is going to waste after you turn something “off” – notably, in addition to conserving energy, this also cuts our electric bill down to about $5 per month

●      Use dishtowels instead of paper towels

●      Grow lots of tomatoes in my back yard.  and a few hot peppers.

With our kids

●      Carpool children

●      Planting a garden with my son – already grow strawberries

●      Use recycled/chlorine-free diapers

●      Use reusable containers for my children’s lunches instead of ziploc baggies

●      Book drive for my daughter’s elementary school diverting over 1,000 books from ending up in the landfill

●      Partner with my daughter’s school 3P club which teaches children to take responsibility for the Earth, we do several projects, every Friday we supervise the children who recycle all of the white paper in the school, we built an outdoor classroom where children will be able to learn about nature, pollination, plant items and have a hands on experience on how this happens

On the road

●      Drive a hybrid

●      Live close to the office

●      Keep cars well maintained and tires inflated

●      Decline bags at stores; use reusable shopping bags

●      New car with better gas mileage than my previous one

●      Carpool

In the office

●      Try to never print anything

●      Filtered water vs bottled

●      We use real plates and silverware instead of paper plates and plastic ware

●      We print our marketing material with soy-based inks and paper from post-consumer materials

●      We purchase coffee from socially responsible coffee farms and the packaging is 100% recycled content (over 50% post-consumer)

●      In the bathroom, in lieu of paper towels we use the Dyson air hand dryer

Number one way we are Green

●      We buy and read used books at www.betterworldbooks.com… JOIN US IN CELEBRATING EARTH DAY TODAY!

Visit www.betterworldbooks.com/earthday to learn more and for a 20% OFF code to use through Tuesday!

Give Books for a Greener Home from Better World Books on Vimeo.

This Earth Day Week, if you’re thinking about greening your home, check out this story on Designing Spaces’ environmental show Think Green featuring Better World Books.

Think Green’s mission is to “re-educate, re-think and re-consider the environment as part of our economy, health and community, and effectively live an eco-friendly lifestyle and to respect our planet earth.”

“Think Green” featured BWB as an environmentally friendly company with a social impact. Correspondent Debi Marie interviewed our President and CEO, David Murphy, about how donating your used books and buying re-used books from our site is also helping promote global literacy. At BWB, we never throw a book away! We either sell the books to raise funds for our literacy partners around the world, donate the actual books to under-served communities through Worldfund, Books for Africa and Feed the Children, or have the books recycled.

Here are a few highlights of the ways that the BWB community is helping save the planet:

• Re-used or recycled over 60 million pounds of books
• 19,000 tons of carbon balancing on BetterWorldBooks.com shipping
• In the UK we partner with Carbonfootprint and Tree Appeal who plant a tree for every ton of carbon emissions produced, balancing our carbon footprint

Not only do we <3 books, we also <3 the Earth and all the people on it!

We’ve just launched into the celebration of our 2nd annual One Book, One Michiana, an event sponsored by the St. Joseph County Public Library (SJCPL). We are inviting everyone in the Michiana community to join us in reading this year’s selection Rocket Boys or watching the movie based on the book, October Sky.

This amazing memoir written by Homer Hickam is about growing up in the coal-mining town of Coalwood, West Virginia, during the 1950s. Homer is the son of the coal mine’s superintendent, and it is expected that he will follow in his father’s footsteps. However, one fateful night in October, Homer sees Sputnik passing overhead, and from that moment he dreams of a life not in the coalmines but of flying a rocket into space. Homer gets his friends together, and they form the Big Creek Missile Agency (BCMA) to create their own rockets. They begin by blowing up his mom’s new picket fence, and other disasters follow. One by one, various people of the community rally behind these young boys, helping them succeed. Miss Freida Riley was the inspirational chemistry and physics teacher who challenged the Rocket Boys to overcome adversity. A favorite quote of hers was “All I’ve done is give you a book. You have to have the courage to learn what’s inside it.”

We invite you, from April 1 through May 7, to read the book or watch the movie and attend several of our community events and programs. This past Saturday, April 2, there was a rocket launch and an Edible Book Festival to launch our One Book celebration. Over the next few weeks there will be star gazing, a memoir writing workshop, book discussions, movie screenings, crafts—all unique events you won’t want to miss.

The whole community is joining in the fun. Visit our web site to find out more about the festivities: http://www.sjcpl.org/onebook/.

We are grateful to our community partner Better World Books for their donation of 100 copies of Rocket Boys. Readers at Center for the Homeless, Robinson Community Learning Center, St. Margaret’s House, Hope Ministries, and others are reading these books and joining our One Book, One Michiana. We also invite you to join us.

The awards were handed out by Justmeans, “the world’s leading source of information and connections for people doing business better.” Cool!

Here’s the lowdown on the two awards:

The Best Social Investment Strategy award is given to companies that invest their financial assets in order to advance causes or programs that have both social and financial returns. At Better World Books we have invested our financial assets to scale the business and thereby scale our social impact – we’ve helped literacy around the world by raising over $9 million for literacy programs and helped save natural resources by re-using or recycling over 40 million books so far.

Other finalists for the Best Social Investment Strategy included J.P. Morgan, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, and Vodaphone Egypt. We’re honored to be in such great company.

For the Citizen’s Choice Award, anyone could vote on submissions. Since our idea was selected by the voting public, we’ll be featured within a USA Today insert called “The Power of Innovation”. So thanks for your votes! You’re helping get the word out about Better World Books every day, and now you’ve helped us reach a lot more people.

The runner up for the Citizen’s Choice Award was “The Best (Olive) Oil Producer” (http://thebestoilproducer.com/), a social enterprise aiming to serve the olive oil market better by connecting producers directly w/ customers & developing community on Lesvos, Greece.

Allow us to introduce LitWorld.org, proponents of World Read Aloud Day! WRAD’s mission is not only to celebrate the power of words and stories, but to rally together and stand up for the 774 million people in the world who cannot read or write. LitWorld is on a mission to raise a collective 774 million minutes of time spent reading aloud with participants and literacy leaders throughout the world on World Read Aloud Day.

So let’s join together and read aloud for a collective 774 million minutes in support of the 774 million people worldwide who cannot read or write. Let the children of the world know we believe in the power of words and stories to change their lives.

Visit LitWorld.org to participate in World Read Aloud Day.