From: Aliya Haq, Western Regional Director

Can literacy prevent fires? I say yes, at least for certain kinds. I believe the link of illiteracy to poverty, disease, and violence cannot be ignored. Yesterday I was reading about the current discussions at the United Nations. It seems like most of the talks at the UN are taken up by a countless crises like Iran's nuclear program, or the Darfur crisis in Sudan (though it seems that Darfur should get more attention, considering its a full-on genocide – but that’s just me). Debates among top government officials revolve around extinguishing metaphorical fires around the globe.

Terrorism, genocide, and undisclosed nuclear weapons programs definitely indicate a bleak and frightening future unless we find some solutions – and find them fast – so I can’t say I blame the UN for the current discussions. When 200,000 people have been killed, and 2.5 million have been driven from their homes into refugee camps in Darfur, it’s not surprising that fighting poverty, establishing basic health care, building infrastructure, or developing education is taking a backseat.

As I was reading about it all in the paper, part of me feared that these horrible crises might never come to an end. I mentioned before that the link of illiteracy to poverty, disease, and violence cannot be ignored. Of course, the UN and developed countries provide a great deal of aid to fight poverty, which I'm not discounting, but perhaps we need more groups that are specifically focused on literacy.  There is a frightening percentage of the world’s population that can't read (20% -- that’s one in five people).

Without access to quality education, democracy cannot function and intolerance cannot be overcome.  It may be a bold statement to say that literacy will prevent genocide, but I definitely believe it. As governments need to put out fires around the world, perhaps we need more groups like Books for Africa, Room to Read, NCFL, and Worldfund to help prevent fires in the first place.

By: Andy, Northwest Regional Director

Some people may argue that funding literacy programs abroad, sending Western books overseas, training teachers, or building educational infrastructure will inevitably further export Western culture and contribute to Western cultural imperialism. Others may argue that literacy programs in places like Latin America, Asia, and Africa will ultimately tamper with indigenous cultures by flooding them with materialism and capitalist propaganda, transforming charming native peoples into willing consumers fluent in Western values. I remember reading the transcript from an interview with a prominent American politician who claimed that the U.S. economy will benefit from the economic and educational betterment of developing countries, be it through the buying power they will later hold or the human talent they will produce.

I backpacked throughout the former communist bloc of Central and East Europe in the mid-1990s. Particularly in rural Romania, the landscapes were dotted with subsistence farmers, and horse drawn carriages far outnumbered cars. Foreign influence was difficult to find from what I saw, and I remember seeing only one "Western" business (McDonald's, of course) in the downtown district of a mid-sized city. Although official numbers indicate high literacy rates in Romania, the economic despair of the countryside meant the lack of opportunity written as anguish on the people's faces. People of the same age as I, with the bulk of their lives ahead of them to establish self-worth and enjoy personal achievement, faced an immediate future of high unemployment, poor infrastructure, corruption, and limited access to resources enjoyed by highly-industrialized countries.

If "the West" brings its educational resources to a country in which they previously did not exist, a footprint is forever left on that culture. Whatever your opinion of these effects may be, they snowball in an influence to be felt for centuries. Contemporary German, for example, is loaded with technical terms and colloquialisms imported from America. Assuming the anecdotal story I heard is accurate, contemporary English is approximately 40% French in origin, all of this as the result of a relatively short Norman occupation. Imported culture may not only influence language, but with the deepest personal values of a people. Asian youth are repeatedly accused of rejecting traditionalism in favor of "Western" ideals. One may argue that a culture takes millennia to develop, but is irrevocably changed the second it comes in contact with foreign influence. But who is to say these transformations should be considered negative? Are they infections or simply a dialogue with other world cultures?


When returning to rural Romania again several years later, I noticed the economic progress the country had made in the short time I was away. More cars filled the streets, shops slowly filled empty historic districts, and tractors worked a few fields. I was surprised by the considerable progress that had been made. Yet I overheard several other tourists commenting about how sad it was that rural Romania was modernizing, and that they were not having the kind of authentic Old World experience they had years before. I listened to them with disgust for their selfishness. As I have discussed with a few individuals from Better World Books before, I wonder how people can be so self-centered as to say to a people, "Stay in the past so we can have a more enjoyable vacation."

Importing literacy and education does not mean the death of a culture, but rather the birth of a Culture of Literacy, one that embraces the future while honoring the past. Respecting a culture does not mean resisting progress and rejecting a higher standard of living; respecting a culture involves documenting it as best as we can in its full integrity and vigor, while marrying indigenous traditions and values within the scope of a more capable culture progressing with the rest of the world. Literacy gives individuals the tools to record their own history, experience new ones, and join the world on its march towards an ever-increasingly higher standard of living. It's astonishingly selfish to curse anyone to forever sweat with hand tools while sitting in an air-conditioned rail car bound for a 4-star hotel.

Written by: Natasha Harris, Senior Pacific Regional Director

My Favorite Day in Africa

This summer, I was chosen to be part of a Books For Africa/Better World Books delegation which spent over two weeks in the countries of Ethiopia and Tanzania. The trip was incredible in every possible respect. We were able to visit numerous schools, non-profits, and libraries that have been recipients of books sent through Books For Africa.

Our travels brought us in contact with very many fantastic organizations and wonderful people; however, my very favorite experience was at the Mtopepo B Primary School on the island of Zanzibar. On that day, we were honored on stage alongside top USAID officials and Michael Retzer, the US Ambassador to Tanzania, for the direct support we’ve helped provide to Zanzibar’s school system. The ceremony was a lot of fun: our host school had obviously put a lot of effort into planning the event, and it went off without a hitch.

My favorite part of the day actually came after the ceremony was over, when we had the opportunity to walk around and visit different classes. A number of the younger children went directly back to class, but many of about age eight and over were more or less just lounging about in the open courtyard where the ceremony had been held. I went up and joined a group of them, and before I knew it I was overtaken in this massive crowd of beautiful, happy children. The group closed in on me and we were all jumping up and down together, laughing. It was one of those experiences where you can’t even really remember how it began, but you know even at the time that you’ll remember it for the rest of your life.

Part of my love for Better World Books stems from my love of children. I’m glad to work for an organization that helps create and further opportunities for youth around the world. I’ll never meet most of the children we help benefit, but I know they’re out there and I know I’m helping make their lives just that much better. For me, this single moment on this one beautiful day represented a reward much greater than the recognition we received at the ceremony. It was my favorite day in Africa.

We are excited to announce that we have recently made a lot of big changes to our website, www.betterworldbooks.com.  Much of these changes include updated and new numbers about the impact we make together by supporting literacy initiatives world-wide.  Other improvements include an easier way to navigate through our site, some design enhancements and a lot more information to help you understand what we do, who we are and how you can get involved!

There really is a lot of great new information on the site so we encourage you to browse the site and learn more. 

The Better World Books Library Team sent out the very first Quarterly Newsletter in early September!  Over 900 librarians across the U.S. received the Fall 2006 version.  If you would like to learn more about the Better World Books Library Discards & Donations Program, make sure you sign-up for our newsletter today!

Here's a PR from National Center for Family Literacy, promoting International Literacy Day...

Help Celebrate International Literacy Day Sept. 8

Louisville, KY – (September 8, 2006) New learning opportunities await families and children every day, it’s just a matter of looking in the right places, including the local newspaper.

Celebrate International Literacy Day Sept. 8 and begin a ritual of lifelong learning with the 2006 Literacy Tabloid presented by the Newspaper Association of America Foundation, Verizon and the National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL).

Titled “Newspaper Inspiration: New Generation,” the 16-page tabloid is offered to newspapers and features engaging articles and activities, all geared towards making reading the local newspaper a family affair.

The tabloid ran in more than 400 newspapers throughout the nation last year with a combined circulation of more than 25,000,000.

“Newspapers provide a daily source of learning opportunities for parents and children and are especially important even in this age of MP3 players and podcasts, instant messaging and other high-tech ‘infotainment’,” said Sharon Darling, president & founder of NCFL.

The literacy information and activities included in the tabloid are drawn from the latest research from NCFL’s qualified experts including:

•        Activities to improve reading and math comprehension

•        Parent resources

•        Word games

•        Literacy volunteer opportunities

Thirty-four million adults have such low literacy skills that reading newspapers or books to their children or filling out a job application is nearly impossible.

 “Making reading the newspaper a family experience will give parents quality time with their children while instilling a love of reading and desire to know more about their world,” said Verizon Foundation President Patrick Gaston.

The free tabloid comes in InDesign and PDF files on a CD and can be ordered at the NAAF Web site at www.naafoundation.org/foundation/LitTab06/.

For more information, call Marvin Young of NCFL at (502) 584-1133 x173.

About NCFL:

The National Center for Family Literacy, the worldwide leader in family literacy, was founded in Louisville in 1989. NCFL has impacted 1 million families and trained 150,000 teachers, practitioners and advocates.  To learn more or to donate to this effort, call 1-877-FAMLIT1 or visit www.famlit.org.

The North Hennepin Community College Bookstore in Brooklyn Park, MN is an avid supporter of the Better World Books donation program.  Tom Curtis, the Inventory/Freight/Web Ordering Specialist sent us this link to their website featuring the BWB program.


Please see below for an excerpt from an article featuring the bookstore's BWB book drive effort which appeared in the Summer 2006 North Hennepin Community College class catalog.

"This year, during the spring buyback program, the bookstore collected 24 boxes of books - more than 1200 pounds - from students, staff and faculty. “It was a great donation for a worthy program,” said Jeanne Kiel, Bookstore Supervisor. “We’re hoping to send regular shipments of books to Better World Books, not just at buyback time."

www.nhcc.edu Summer Magazine 2006 page 11

U N I T E D N A T I O N S

 THE SECRETARY-GENERAL 

MESSAGE ON INTERNATIONAL LITERACY DAY

8 September 2006 

Literacy sustains development. That is the theme of this year’s International
Literacy Day. It recognizes that higher literacy rates are essential to economic growth,
poverty eradication, social participation and environmental protection. It reminds us that
literacy is the platform for developing a society’s human resources. 

Literacy begins with primary education, and achieving universal primary schooling
by 2015 is one of the Millennium Development Goals. Yet primary education does not
reach every child; there are more than 100 million girls and boys who never enrol in
school. Even for those who are enrolled, the quality of primary schooling may be so poor
that it leads to only a fragile command of basic literacy skills. And while official statistics
put the number of illiterate adults at more than 770 million, that figure does not include
the millions more who are ill-equipped to deal with everyday needs of learning,
understanding and communicating. 

Clearly, in many parts of the world, development has not yet delivered one of its
most important outcomes -- more literate and better educated populations. At the same
time, those societies are being robbed of the crucial tool for development which literacy
represents -- a tool that enables people to take advantage of new learning opportunities,
respond to changing occupational demands, undertake greater responsibilities, build their
way out of poverty and protect themselves against disease -- especially HIV/AIDS.
Women and girls who are deprived of literacy lack a vital weapon in freeing themselves
from inequality and discrimination. As we are reminded by the overall theme of the
United Nations Literacy Decade (2003-2012), literacy is freedom. 

The precious gift of literacy can sustain development only if it is itself sustained --
by post-literacy programmes, further opportunities for education and training, and the
creation of “literate environments” in which literacy can thrive. On this International
Literacy Day, let us pledge to step up national and international efforts for improved
literacy levels worldwide. Let us give literacy a real chance to transform individuals and
societies around the world.

Kofi A. Annan

This past Friday, September 1st, Garon Tate of Phi Theta Kappa released a breaking news article regarding the Better World Books (BWB) book drive partnership.

One highlight from the article are the results of the PTK spring book drive campaign:

"192 chapters have already collected 90,000 books, which will add up to approximately $35,000 in funds for these Phi Theta Kappa chapters."

Check out the article on the PTK website to see photos of PTK's Garon Tate and Brandi McNeil on their visit to the BWB collection center.

Dear Friends of Better World Books and Literacy,

We are excited to announce that John Wood, Founder and CEO of one of our partner organizations, Room to Read, has written and published a book detailing how he left Microsoft and started Room to Read.  As you know, Room to Read is an award-winning organization dedicated to providing children across the developing world with an opportunity to gain the lifelong gift of education.  Better World Books has raised over $150,000 for Room to Read over the past two years from our book drives and online book sales.

The Book is called Leaving Microsoft to Change the World, and it is available to buy now!  Room to Read has partnered with Giveline, Inc. (www.giveline.com/roomtoread) so that the margin from purchasing this book will be donated directly back to Room to Read.  The book is also available on Amazon, Barnes&Noble, and Borders sites.

Leaving Microsoft details John’s incredible journey from corporate executive to social entrepreneur.  John was once a rising executive at Microsoft.  He thought he had it all: the big paycheck, the corporate apartment, and proximity to legendary software giant Bill Gates.  However, in 1998, he took a vacation that changed his life. 

While trekking in the Himalayas, John visited a rural Nepali school and was confronted by the harsh reality faced by millions of children in the developing world -- there were no books in the library!

As John left the village that day, the headmaster made a simple request: “Perhaps, Sir, you will some day come back with books.”  This request became a mission, one which John has dedicated “the second chapter of his adult life” to fulfilling:  changing the world one book and one child at a time by setting up schools and libraries across the developing world.

As of July 2006, Room to Read has opened nearly 3,000 libraries with 2 million books, set up over 2000 girls with long term scholarships, and opened nearly 200 schools.   Nearly a million children now have the opportunity to gain the lifelong gift of education.  To learn more visit: www.leavingmicrosoftbook.com  and www.roomtoread.org.

The team at Better World Books has read John’s memoir and we highly recommend it.  Publishers Weekly agrees – in a starred review, they described the book as “an infectiously inspiring read [in which] Wood endears himself to the reader with his honesty and introspection.”

We hope that you will not only buy the book, but also share this mail with others.  Better World Books is proud to be funding the amazing work of Room to Read, and we believe that the launch of Leaving Microsoft to Change the World is a wonderful opportunity to share this story with millions of potential supporters.

Sincerely,

The Better World Books Team

Written By Greg Barber:

Over the past summer, our Alpha Epsilon Omicron chapter of Phi Theta Kappa undertook one of the book drives sponsored by Better World Books. We filled sixty-five boxes, and totaled approximately 900 textbooks. No one in our chapter thought we would collect that many, and it would be an understatement to say that our expectations were greatly exceeded. We were stunned by our own success.  But looking back on the whole experience, it is apparent that this book drive wouldn’t have been the success it was if it weren’t for the presence of several key components.

Making the campus aware of the project, of course, is one of the keystones. Beginning in the early stages of the project, we sent out emails and put up flyers to notify our fellow students about the book drive. Even before the collection boxes were out, all three campuses knew that this project was going to begin soon. The time we put into the advertisement portion of this project definitely paid off. Students knew exactly when and where to donate their books, and contributions started coming in as soon as we put the boxes up.

Also, thoughtful placement of the boxes increased our donations tremendously. We placed them in high traffic areas such as the library entrance, frequently traversed hallways, and the bookstore. The bookstore location was an especially important collection spot due to the time of the project. Book-buy-back week was underway, and by placing the box adjacent to the buy-back center, it was ensured that any surplus books would be donated.

Contributions from faculty are also something that is definitely worth looking into. About half of our donations were from the college’s faculty and staff. All it took was an email from our advisor notifying the rest of the faculty that this project was coming up. To make it easy for people to donate, we designed one day a campus-wide “Book Blitz,” when chapter members and volunteers made the rounds to collect books at faculty and staff offices.  The response was enthusiastic, and plenty of our people were more than willing to get a few old books off their hands.

And lastly, the most important factor that resulted in this successful book drive was dedication. A committed team of people can go a long way. We started the project, and kept with it all the way until the end. Everyone stayed positive, were supportive of each other, and were always ready to offer assistance in any way possible.

Basically, thoughtful planning, willingness to dedicate time, and a team of committed people are really all that is needed to put on a successful book drive.