Better World Blog
Better World Blog
Funding Literacy ... By the Book!

Welcome to the Better World Books Blog! We created this forum to connect you with other members of the BWB community and to help you stay informed. We think this will be a powerful tool for all of us as we continue to grow and expand our support for world wide literacy.

» Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Show Us Some Love, Facebook Edition
Posted by Jack Hanlon, CBO & Evangelist

Here are some highlights from the posts on our Facebook Fan Page:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reading is golden.

I love your website.

Show Us Some Love
Posted by Jack on 6/24/2008 UTC
#    Comments [0]
» Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Hippie 2.0?
Posted by Jack Hanlon, CBO & Evangelist

News source Profy.com has an article by editor Cyndy Aleo-Carreira about us, entitled: Hippie 2.0: Better World Books Is Proving You Can Make Money Being Green:

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

Read more over yonder.

[ed. note: Now I know the betterworld.com team isn't far from Haight Ashbury but as a New Yorker I resent this hippie tag, harumph.  (kidding!  thanks for the support, Cyndy!)  However, we've actually raised $4.5 million, not just $2.75 (the difference is the money we've raised for libraries)!]
Show Us Some Love
Posted by Jack on 6/10/2008 UTC
#    Comments [2]
» Monday, June 09, 2008
Suggestion Box, Now With 100% Less Ink Smearing!
Posted by Jack Hanlon, CBO & Evangelist



It's all well and good when I come up with a super sweet idea for the site, but it doesn't happen every day, whereas, I'm willing to wager that out of the thousands of you out there that there are awesome ideas every hour.

Follow the lead of your fellow readers (including Felipe on the last post) and leave a comment about what you would like to see us do.  You'll never know what we're capable of until you test us (and maybe we'll never know either!).

So get all Web 2.0 on us, forget the comment and suggestion box, forget the smearing ink and get typing, the community knows what it wants!

In Our Communities | Operations | Show Us Some Love
Posted by Jack on 6/9/2008 UTC
#    Comments [4]
» Friday, May 30, 2008
Show Us Some Love, Comment Edition
Posted by Jack Hanlon, CBO & Evangelist

Check out some of the latest comments on the blog:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Well Cathy, I'm not going to complain.

Show Us Some Love
Posted by Jack on 5/30/2008 UTC
#    Comments [0]
» Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Shake it Up!
Posted by Jack Hanlon, CBO & Evangelist

We're on Facebook!  Yup.  If you go here you can become a fan of Better World Books, along with the myriad others who have done so (100+ in the first 4 hours!).

Also, if you check our YouTube channel (yeah, we're kind of a big deal) then you can check out the latest videos and some of our favorite videos as well. 

If you're feeling a little lazy and already added us on Facebook you can check out one video here...

Campus Division | Library | Operations | Our Partners | Show Us Some Love
Posted by Jack on 5/28/2008 UTC
#    Comments [0]
» Friday, May 23, 2008
Show Us Some Love, Finnish Edition
Posted by Jack Hanlon, CBO & Evangelist

Maybe you're a better man than I, but I can't read Finnish.  I know what you're thinking, "Jack, in your studies at Holy Cross you never got through Hurskas Kurjuus by Sillinpaa?  Shame, shame!"  I know, believe me.

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



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

Hey... I recognize something there!

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

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



For more press about Better World Books go HERE.
Show Us Some Love
Posted by Jack on 5/23/2008 UTC
#    Comments [2]
» Monday, May 12, 2008
Show Us Some Love, May 12 Edition
Posted by Jack Hanlon, CBO & Evangelist

Here are links of some of the latest love from the last two weeks for Better World Books!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I love this site!"

Show Us Some Love
Posted by Jack on 5/12/2008 UTC
#    Comments [2]