Better World Books » massachusetts

The Great American Book Drive, cont’d

admin — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 23:09:22 +0000

Chris Johnson, Better World Books’ organizer of the epic Great American Book Drive (which by now you know is the biggest community based book drive in the US) just dropped me a line about the recent event in Boston:

“The drive went very well, we collected about 13,000 books and everything went super smooth, and I’m itching to begin the national rollout.”

Nice!

Rather than me tell you how it went, considering I was over 2700+ miles away, I’ll let the Boston Herald do their job:

“Bay Staters paged through their book collections for donations to the annual Great American Book Drive, held yesterday at the Brighton-Allston Congregational Church UCC in Brighton.

“It was actually a good excuse to clean out my book shelves,” said donor Stewart Ulm, 27. “They were getting a little unwieldy.”

The Web developer donated about 150 tomes to Internet bookseller Better World Book’s annual drive. The donation ran the gamut from GRE study guides to novels to nonfiction chronicles. He gave nearly as many last year.

The drive from Better World Books collected tomes to sell and raise money for the Prison Book Program and City Mission Society of Boston.

Last year’s effort brought in more than 20,000 books. Since 2003, the for-profit Better World Books has raised more than $4.7 million for the nonprofit partners.”

LIVE from IMPACT at Northeastern (2)

Jack — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 22:01:06 +0000

We’re currently at the Northeastern IMPACT conference (see previous post) I just got back from my forum (which was awesome!). I’m going to do some editing of a recording of the forum so a podcast of the talk is coming up soon, great stuff indeed about mobilizing students and the differences in the sectors in the business world. People asked me hard questions and I gave them honest answers [insert warm and fuzzy feeling here].

Now I’m playing Scrabble with three students at Middlsex Community College in Edison, NJ, and let me tell you, despite their smiles, they’re rough customers. Erin just laid down “Quell” on a triple word score for 45 points and is absolutely killing us.

Garima, Erin (hustler), Barum and Ham from MCC

LIVE from IMPACT at Northeastern (1)

admin — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 13:45:39 +0000

(Abby, me, Roselle) Yeah, ok, the bookmark is mirrored. You can handle it!

Hey all, I’m currently at IMPACT/Idealist conference at Northeastern University this weekend. After setting up our gear and breaking out Scrabble (I just put down “Fastens.” 64 points! All others, owned. (Without Niko here I’m totally going to win).)

You can find us in the ballroom between the lovely ladies (Jessica and Amanda) at Hostelling International USA and the folks at UNICEF USA who are soon to arrive. Later today I’ll be an expert (seriously…) on a forum entitled “Blurring the lines: Public Good in the Private Sector” whilst my killer coworkers (seen above), Roselle (Mid-South Regional Director (ATL baby!)) and Abby (Rocky Mountain Regional Director (Reppin’ Minnehaha!)), are kicking it live at the table.

Today’s highlights will include my super sweet forum (look for a podcast coming soon), our ongoing scrabble throwdown, these sweet new www.BetterWorld.com

Tomorrow is our workshop and more well-meaning shenanigans… check in often for updates (and tomorrow for photos!) shirts and the very un-Boston 50 degree weather.

Boston: Prison Book Program Drive

admin — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 16:19:53 +0000

This past Saturday, Dustin Holland of the library division, along with Sarah Lynne Reul (East Coast Senior Director) and myself went to the Union Congregation Church in Allston, MA to help Prison Book Program with a community drive. Hailed as the “largest drive in Boston” this program saw 20,000 books from churches and households all around the Metro-Boston area.

Better World Books was there with the Prison Book Program deciding which books would be sold for funding or which would go directly to the prisoners, and after a grueling 10-7pm nonstop sorting and packing session we actually had to shut the doors of the church to make sure no one else showed up!

Thank you to UCC, PBP and all the volunteers who showed up for a great experience. It’s not often enough that we actually get to go out there and get our hands dirty, and the opportunity was a great one. Below are some photos, courtesy of the Boston Globe, Sunday edition (City & Region 10.21.07).

Prison Book Program Hosts Largest Community Book Drive in Boston

admin — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 18:04:58 +0000

Prison Book Program, a literacy partner of Better World Books, is organizing a city-wide book drive on Saturday October 20th. Our goal is to collect at least 10,000 books. Your book donations will be sent to prisoners around the country, sold at the City Mission used-book store, or distributed by Better World Books for the benefit of national and international literacy charities around the world. This is a great chance to clear out that bookshelf and ensure that your books go to good use.

If you live in the Boston area, please bring your unwanted book donations to benefit Prison Book Program, City Mission Society and other local non-profits. Hardcovers, paperbacks, used and new, fiction and non fiction.

WHEN: Saturday October 20, 2007, 10am to 4pm
WHERE: Brighton Allston Congregational Church UCC
404 Washington Street
Brighton , MA 02135

Full details are available at: http://www.prisonbookprogram.org/bookdrive.htm
For more information, please email: info@prisonbookprogram.org or call 617-423-3298

MIT Book Drive Supports Ghana Library Project

admin — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 21:25:30 +0000

Sadik Antwi-Boampong, a student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology & president of the student group EASE (Expediting Access to Standard Education) http://web.mit.edu/ease/www/participate.htmlhas spent the last few months organizing a library in in Nsuta, a small town in Ghana . While in Nsuta during January, he was able to meet up with Pat Plonski, the Executive Director of Books for Africa, and arrange a shipment of 7,000 books for the library! In his words, “It was a refreshing experience for me to meet and share my experiences with [the students of Nsuta]. Additionally, I was especially humbled that I received tremendous support from various people who shared my passion for educational empowerment through reading. It is my fervent prayer that the presence of the library will produce academically excellent students in Nsuta community.”

Sadik & EASE will be leading a Better World Books / Books for Africa book drive this spring at MIT. Here are some great pictures from his trip to Nsuta

Hunger & Homelessness Conference

admin — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 23:40:52 +0000

This past weekend, I was lucky to attend the East Coast Conference on Hunger & Homelessness at Boston University. It was a exciting experience – with nearly 300 enthusiastic students and activists attending, the energy levels were tangible! Every one of these students is participating on wonderful service projects to improve the lives of people in their communities, and hearing about the projects was inspirational!

Every Spring, the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness hosts this regional conference focused on hunger, homelessness, and poverty-related issues. After hosting a successful national conference this fall at the University of Southern California, the National Student Campaign organized this past weekend’s east coast event with workshops, panel discussions, innovative programming ideas, and fun networking opportunities. Here’s the website for the summit, with more info: http://www.studentsagainsthunger.org/ecsummit/ecsummit.asp?id2=28639.

The National Student Campaign Against Hunger & Homelessness is committed to ending hunger and homelessness in America by educating, engaging, and training students to directly meet individuals’ immediate needs while advocating for long-term systemic solutions. You can learn more by visiting their website: http://www.studentsagainsthunger.org/

Many thanks to the organizers & students who made this conference such a great event – here are a couple pictures from the weekend!