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Better World Books

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Better World Books is a for-profit social enterprise that collects donated books to raise funding for over 80 non-profit literacy programs. They have raised over $2 million for these organizations since 2002, and saved over 8 million pounds of books from landfills. Additionally, the company has raised over $675,000 for student groups coordinating book drives on college campuses, and over $783,000 for libraries and thrift stores nationwide.

As a social enterprise, Better World Books measures its success through a “triple bottom line”, considering economic, environmental & social factors. The Better World Books mission statement is “to capitalize on the value of the book to fund and support literacy initiatives locally, nationally, and around the world.”

Contents

[edit] History

In May of 2002, three University of Notre Dame graduates lead a book drive to help the Robinson Community Learning Center in South Bend, IN. The founders won the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza School of Business top prize for social entrepreneurship - the McCloskey Social Venture Business Plan competition. They used the momentum to expand book drives beyond the Midwest. As of June 2007, the Campus Division of Better World Books works with students and bookstore managers to lead book drives at over 1,000 college and university campuses across North America; the Library Division works with over 500 libraries to take care of their discards and unwanted donations.

[edit] Partners

Better World Books partners with over 80 non-profit literacy partners to provide them with a consistent source of unrestricted funding. The main literacy partners are:

  • Books for Africa– the largest shipper of donated books to the African continent – since 1988, shipped over 15 million books to 27 countries.
  • Room to Read– supports the construction of schools, libraries & language labs, publishes local-language children’s books and funds long-term scholarships for young girls in South Asia & Africa
  • National Center for Family Literacy– provides literacy materials and training to over 6,000 family literacy programs across the United States
  • Worldfund in Latin America - supports high-quality education for impoverished children in Latin America.
  • Robinson Community Learning Center in South Bend, IN
  • Prison Book Program in Quincy, MA

Better World Books also partners with college student organizations to assist in the collection of books no longer needed on campus. These include Phi Theta Kappa, Golden Key Honour Society, Alpha Phi Omega and Circle K, among others. These student partners are compensated according to the level of their collections.

Better World Books is a member of National Association of College Stores (NACS). Some NACS members have questioned the collection of donated textbooks by a for-profit social venture, while many partner with Better World Books to manage extra books left over after buybacks.

[edit] Impact

Better World Books either sells collected books to raise funding for its literacy partners, sends the books directly to partner programs, or recycles books unsuitable for sale or direct donation. Critics have questioned their impact as they are a for-profit social enterprise, however from from Spring 2002 through February 2007, Better World Books has made the following social, environmental & economic impacts:

Social Impact: Better world Books has collected over 4.6 million books through over 1,000 college book drives and 500 library collections. Raised over $2 million for approximately 80 literacy and education non-profit organizations, including over $1.2 million for Books for Africa, $233,000 for the National Center for Family Literacy, $203,000 for Room to Read, $8,000 for Worldfund, $65,000 for the Robinson Community Learning Center, $48,000 for the New Orleans Public Library Foundation and over $240,000 for additional literacy partners. In addition, Better World Books has directly sent more than 460,000 books to Books for Africa, the National Center for Family Literacy, and Feed the Children.

Environmental Impact: The book collections have saved over 8 million pounds of books that may have otherwise gone to landfills. Over 680,000 pounds of metal shelving have been reclaimed from libraries across the United States, and 150 tons of carbon dioxide have been offset through Betterworld.com book sales.

Economic Impact: Better World Books has created 130 full-time jobs with full benefits, and revitalized a dormant packaging plant in an industrial center in Mishawaka, IN.

[edit] Online Sales

Better World Books sells collected books through 14+ online marketplaces, including Amazon.com, Abebooks & their own online e-commerce site, Betterworld.com.

As it has a large number of listings with general descriptions, some people consider the company to be a megalister. However, Better World Books currently has over 1.8 million used books physically at their Mishawaka, IN warehouse and employs two full-time, in-house Antique, Rare & Collectible book experts to grade & care for rare books. BWB has an strong history of customer satisfaction, with ratings above 95% on Rapleaf, eBay and Amazon.

[edit] External Links

[edit] Literacy Partners

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