Funds Raised for Global Literacy:
$10,184,799.20
Books Re-Used or Recycled:
63,271,794

Give Books for a Greener Home

Posted by Erin on 04.18.2011 at 1:36 pm

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. Read more…

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Oakland Literacy Trip Video (1 of 2)

Posted by admin on 03.18.2011 at 9:13 am

As you may recall, a group of BWB employees and two of our Librarian partners recently volunteered to do some hands-on work with the National Center for Family Literacy in Oakland, CA.  Here is the first of two videos showing the collaboration of schools, students, and their parents in literacy education.  See firsthand what kind of impact your purchases from Better World Books have in the world.

Part 2 is on the way!

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Better World Books is offering $75,000 in grants to library communities

Posted by admin on 03.14.2011 at 4:56 pm

Libraries serve a very important function in our communities.  They are a valuable resource for children and adults.  Libraries offer a wide range of services from helping people find jobs to offering workshops for small businesses.  And they are often the only place to access the internet for the 34% of the US population who do not have computer access at home (“Home Broadband Adoption,” Pew Internet and American Life, 2010).

Libraries tend to reflect the communities they serve.  They tailor their services to the needs of the people in their areas.  And when new resources are needed to help the local community, libraries will seek funding to make their projects a reality.  That’s where we come in.

Better World Books is a huge supporter of libraries of all kinds and we are aware of the financial struggles they face.  It is why we decided to make available $75,000 to be distributed to libraries who have compelling projects which will make a dramatic impact in their communities.

Libraries have up until March 25th to submit their “Game Changing” ideas. Winners will be announced on May 16th and the winning projects implemented between 5/16/11 and 12/31/11.

We are looking for projects that will significantly impact literacy in their communities.  It’s why we refer to them as “Game Changing” ideas.  Successful applicants will use funds to advance a compelling literacy project that Better World Books will follow and share with you.

If you work at a library, know of anyone that works at a library, love your library or have ever been touched by the power of a book, check out www.betterworldbooks.com/librarygrants.  There you’ll find out more about the library grant program and how to participate.

1 Comment » | Tagged Our Partners, , ,

Making Literacy Happen with NCFL

Posted by admin on 02.09.2011 at 5:29 pm

Recently, a group of BWB employees and two of our Librarian partners visited the West Coast do some hands-on work with the National Center for Family Literacy. Turns out, it was awesome. Our employees will be sharing their learnings and experiences on this blog, shedding light on the process of fostering literacy in the US.

Here’s one from Jozi Hall, National Account Manager

Day One
I spent the week volunteering at the Manzanita Schools with Eddie Porello, our Performance Marketing Specialist, Emily Kirkpatrick, Vice President for the National Center for Family Literacy, David Murphy, our CEO, and Kathleen Stacey from the University of Hawaii Hilo Library, one of our librarian trip winners. We got to work with students at both of the schools at Manzanita: the Manzanita Community School and Manzanita SEED, a two way immersion program in Spanish and English. Sam Davis, the adult-class teacher and our gracious host, created an ambitious schedule for us that including everything from refinishing benches to helping second graders with their model volcano science project and helping language-learner parents create new projects.

We attended an orientation session to learn more about the community and the work of  Oakland Adult and Career Education. My favorite part of the orientation was our Polish lesson, which gave us an idea of what it is like for the adult language learners we would be working with. It takes a lot of courage and concentration to learn another language as an adult.

We finished the day with a lovely dinner at Bistro Boudin at San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf . Our dinner hostess, Michelle East-Krull, is a University of San Francisco Student and we were happy to learn that she is a customer and fan of Better World Books!

1 Comment » | Tagged Literacy Trips, ,

Worldfund and your book giving/buying impact

Posted by John on 02.15.2010 at 11:48 am

worldfund_logo Erin Sawaya and Michelle Viegas of Worldfund recently paid a visit to Better World Books’ distribution center where they provided us an update on their progress improving literacy in Latin America. Better World Books book donors and readers have helped raise over $150,000 for Worldfund since they became a literacy partner in 2007.

Worldfund’s mission is to raise the quality and relevance of education in Latin America—the key to transforming lives and breaking the cycle of poverty. They do this through scholarship funding and through teacher and principal training programs. There is an excellent introductory video about Worldfund on their website.

WF-Blog6

Photo: Michelle Viegas, Director of Programs & Strategic Outreach, and Erin Sawaya, Vice President of Development and Communications, speak to Better World Books employees.

Presentations from our partners always have loads of great information, but there’s usually a key fact or two that jump out for me. In this case it was that $600 can provide a scholarship to a child for a full year (in case you’re interested here’s a link to the donations page). Read more…

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The Power of Literacy

Posted by admin on 09.08.2009 at 2:39 pm

literacyday-blogAs you undoubtedly know, we are all about literacy here at Better World Books.   But you might ask, why literacy? And what does it mean to promote literacy?  That’s why we thought in honor of International Literacy Day we’d share our views on why literacy is so important to us and to the world.

Those of us who can read and write sometimes take that ability for granted, but think of all the things you couldn’t do without those skills, from navigating your way in a new area to knowing what medication to take to being able to understand and communicate with the world around you.

Being literate is not just about the ability to read a story and enjoy good books, it is about being empowered.  United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said it best:  “Literacy is not just about reading and writing; it is about respect, opportunity and development”.

There is a correlation between literacy and poverty. This is why empowerment through literacy is so important. Literacy presents new opportunities and brings the marginalized onto equal footing enabling them to lift themselves out of poverty. Literacy is foundational to education which in turn is foundational to development.

To celebrate International Literacy Day, we’re discounting all used books in our warehouse 15%.  As always, you’ll be helping one of our amazing non-profit literacy partners with every purchase.   (Note — that means used books from our warehouse, not from the Marketplace.)

Just use this code at checkout:    4LITERACY
One Day Only – Good on Sept. 8, 2009!

7 Comments » | Tagged Impact, , , ,

World AIDS Day

Posted by Jack on 12.01.2008 at 1:42 pm

From the offical website: The 1st of December, World AIDS Day, is the day when individuals and organisations from around the world come together to bring attention to the global AIDS epidemic. 2008 marks the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day. Whilst we have come a long ways since 1988, there is still much more to be done.
Image courtesy of the Seattle Times

Read more…

1 Comment » | Tagged Impact, Our Partners, , ,

On Language: Emoticons

Posted by Jack on 08.27.2008 at 10:14 am

I was recently flipping through the back issues of the New York Times magazine that I had not yet gotten to and saw one of my favorite columns, On Language, tackling a most interesting topic for a CBO: Emoticons.  You won’t see emoticons here at the Better World Blog, but in a world where the average American child types far more than they write and emoticons and “AIM speak” dominate, it can be a challenge to think of how literacy and education will change with these dominating forms of communication.  How many of you have fallen in and said “brb” “lol” or just included a simple ” :) ” in an email or used “u” instead of “you” in a moment of brevity inspired weakness?

In any event, the article is sharp and can be found here but the point of most note is the end:

Those concerned about the compression of our sped-up language are directed to “Linguistic Ruin? LOL! Instant Messaging and Teen Language,” by Sali Tagliamonte and Derek Denis, an article in the spring 2008 quarterly “American Speech” (dukeupress.edu). My choice for most influential and seminal language book of the year is “Always On: Language in an Online and Mobile World,” by Naomi S. Baron, professor of linguistics at American University in D.C. (Oxford University Press, $30). She’s a scholar who can write in real time with real words.

1 Comment » | Tagged Book Reviews, , , ,

Spell Check Isn’t Everything…

Posted by admin on 07.28.2008 at 2:59 pm

Some ironclad logic for your Monday:

(Question: Which part is more embarrassing: the views represented, the fantastic irony, or the circled dots above the “i’s” that suggest this was actually done by his kid?  ¿Donde esta la educación, amigo?  I sort of love the superfluous hyphen though…)

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A Perfect Partnership: BWB Joins Literacy Council of St. Joseph Country to Combat Illiteracy

Posted by admin on 05.07.2008 at 2:39 pm

Maura Varian, Acquisitions Support Manager, hatched a brilliant plan earlier this year. One day, she thought, “Hey, we collect books. We sell books. And, most of us even read books. So, why don’t we help people learn to do what we love most?” And, today, that plan is a step closer to fruition.

As of last week, 11 Better World Books employees have graduated from our local literacy council’s tutor training program. The employee-tutors will be utilizing the company’s new volunteerism benefit for this program. In essence, they’ll be compensated for their time as if they were working away in our distribution center. For Better World Books, providing direct service — be it tutoring, painting houses, or playing with children with disabilities — is just as valuable as receiving, scanning, and shipping books. In the end, it’s all about creating a Better World.

And, Maura’s not done there. In an article which was released today by the South Bend Tribune, she is ready to take her dream of local literacy even further, saying I’d “like to see the partnership grow to eventually allow the company’s own employees who have issues with literacy to get the help they need from the Literacy Council while they’re on the job.”

Thanks, Maura, we’re right there with you!

For the full article, click here.

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