Posted By: Abby Rae LaCombe, Rocky Mountain Regional Director

Early April a young man named Ido had requested more information on Better World Books.  My first thought was, ‘what a neat name, where does everyone get these neat names?’  It’s a common thought for me, because I am simply an Abby surrounded by neat names like Niko, Roselle, Yanna, Silvia, and Damara…

Well, it turns out that Ido got his neat name in Israel and he was contacting me on behalf of his English class at United World College – USA, a fascinating institution with approximately 200 students from 96 countries!  Ido shared my information with his instructor, Anne. 

When she and the class started looking at Better World Books’ website, they were excited to see we worked with literacy programs all over the world.  The students were impressed that Better World Books is a self-sustaining supporter of non-profits, and with our zero-waste book processing and environmental efforts; but when they saw it had been founded and largely run by young adults like themselves they were really excited to get involved. 

Seeing this, Anne worked with them to develop theme-based English lessons centered on Better World Books’ business model and how we support our literacy partners.  The students did class presentations on their home countries and the education situation there; they made posters, flyers, and handouts outlining BWB and our partners and then shared them with the campus to advertise their drive. Their project culminated with an incredibly successful book drive bringing in close to 500 books!

Anne told me later, “The thing about these students is that they’re really smart, and very committed to social change.  They were very interested in the project, the business aspects, the world aspects, how we choose who gets educated in our world.”  From where I’m sitting, it’s true.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for finding us!  You guys did a great job! 

Thank you, Anas - from Jordan
Thank you, Ayano - from Japan
Thank you, Esteban - from Paraguay
Thank you, Gnagna - from Senegal
Thank you, Ido - from Israel
Thank you, Jonathan - from Guatemala
Thank you, Lina - from Colombia
Thank you, Maris - from Casta Rica
Thank you, Mobeen - from Afghanistan
Thank you, Muhammad - from Indonesia
Thank you, Octavio - from East Timor
Thank you, Oudam - from Cambodia
Thank you, Porfia - from Angola....
And thank you,, Anne - from England!

Posted By: Yanna C. Ogilve, Midwest Regional Director

A brilliant student from the University of Iowa put together this screen saver. It will be the screen saver for all campus computers during finals. It is a great idea to further promote the book drive, your organization and global literacy.
Thanks for sharing Nick!
-Yanna

Posted by: Niko Tomlinson, Senior Midwest Director

My fantastic student leader at the University of Nebraska-Omaha has taken on a great challenge- collecting books all around this widely spread-out and very commuter-heavy campus and is getting all cylinders clicking!  He has big ambitions and the will, motivation and dedication to make it happen!

See the article he had written up about the book drive in the UNO student paper, the Gateway, "Honors student makes charitable use of unreturnable textbooks."

-Niko Tomlinson

Thanks to Jaira Harrington from Golden Key, Better World Books and the Books for Africa Drive made it on the front page of the Spelman College website!!!

http://www.spelman.edu/

All-USA Community College Academic Team

Selected from more than 1,500 students nominated by their schools, here are the 20 members of the 17th annual All-USA Community College Academic First Team. Each receives a $2,500 cash award.

Elona Rrapo  

College: St. Petersburg College, Clearwater, Fla., campus
Age: 22
GPA: 4.0
Studying: Pre-medicine

An immigrant from Albania, she organized a Better World Books used textbook drive to benefit literacy efforts in Africa; as honors college member, presented research on evolution of religion in Albania at National Collegiate Honors College Conference two years after arriving in the USA speaking little English; hospital volunteer.

Posted By: Yanna C. Ogilvie, Midwest Regional Director

We were honored to attend the International Phi Theta Kappa conference in Nashville. Everyone was so excited to learn more about Better World Books and we were excited to attend the general sessions with key note speakers Kevin Sharp, Jehen Sadat, and Al Gore! Please enjoy these pictures from our time in Nashville.

2006 PTK International President and Vice Presidents


Flag Ceremony


Al Gore


Al Gore and the panel


BWB Crew: left to right - Aaron King, Xavier Helgesen, Laurie Lawson, Damara Catlett, Roselle Agner

Posted by: Jack Hanlon, Northeast Regional Director

This past weekend was the State University of New York (SUNY) Student Government Association meeting (that’s quite a mouthful…).  The meeting, taking place in Syracuse, NY this year had great attendance, with multiple attendees from almost all of the 64 schools within the New York public college system.  Better World Books has a very strong relationship with schools in the SUNY system so it was great to see many of our reps in person.

The SGA’s at the SUNY schools actually carry a surprising amount of weight in decisions that get made for the schools as a whole, so to be involved with this group is an honor and it reflects the diligence and commitment of the individuals.  Because of this, many of the groups that weren’t involved with us came for information and wanted to get involved, many of them through the SGA and through another one of the many groups they were involved in.

It was great to be there because I had the chance to not only meet many of the reps that I work with, but also had a lot of time in lunches or dinners to network and spread the word to a number of new campuses as well, outside of the presentations which I gave.  It was a fantastic opportunity for people to hear about our mission and give feedback and encouragement to us and the people who work with us.  We work with over half of the SUNY schools currently and with more events like this, that number will keep growing.

Posted By: Damara Lauren Catlett, Northern Mid-Atlantic Regional Director
Written By: Raquella Wilson

When this initiative was presented at the international convention our officers were so excited about the prospect of helping to provide an education to those who might otherwise go without, we signed up immediately after the closing of the presenting seminar.  As we were approaching the end of the semester and felt this was an excellent opportunity to acquire books, we decided to begin our efforts immediately. Before we even received the collection boxes from Better World Books, we had begun to collect cases of books.  Instructors and administration were overwhelmingly supportive of our efforts and made substantial contributions.  The students chose to donate their used books rather than receive monetary reimbursement for them.  What better way to help someone than to provide them with educational tools so that they can empower themselves?

The money raised from the Books for Africa drive was used to purchase a tree for our tree planting event.  Officers and members of Phi Theta Kappa chose to coordinate with the child development center on our campus to use the tree planting event as a tool to educate the young students, who attend the center, on the importance of “Keeping America Beautiful”.  The children were excited to be participants in physically planting the tree and were eager learners when it came to educating them on liter prevention. 

We are currently working on ideas for our most recent check. However, I am sure it will be used to benefit others.

Posted by: Sarah Lynne Reul, Senior East Coast Director

It’s book drive season again! As you start up your promotional campaigns, remember that Facebook events are an awesome way to raise awareness for your book drive. If you haven’t already, it’s a great idea to create an event for the book drive & invite all your friends (and make sure they can invite people too!) – this is a super easy way to help more students learn about the great impact you can all make.

Also, if you’re on Facebook, join the Better World Books group! We already have over 500 members, and we would love for you & all your friends to join. Here’s the link - http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2204784368, or you can find it by searching groups for “Better World Books”. There are a bunch of great pictures (like the one below) that you can use for your Facebook event, or add pics from your own book drive!