Posted by Natasha Harris, West Coast Senior Director

From Kjerstin Erickson, Founder and Executive Director of FORGE:
"I just received this story from our field staff about a man named Antoine, a Congolese refugee who has been running one of our computer training labs since 2005.  We’ve all worked closely with Antoine for the past 2 years, yet strangely nobody knew his story.  It’s energizing and refreshing to hear about the things that the people around you have overcome – and with what strength and poise, you’d never know the difference…".

   Antoine was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1981.  When he was a 17 year-old schoolboy, the war came to his village.  Because Antoine’s father’s job was to report on human rights abuses, Antoine’s family became a natural target for the invading army.  They raided his home, tied his father to a tree, and began to beat him.  The family fled to the bush for safety, but as they ran they heard gunshots ring through the night.  They didn’t hear from their father again, and were convinced of his murder.  After his father’s death, Antoine went to live with an uncle.  His uncle owned a computer and taught Antoine some basic computer skills, enough to land him a job upon completion of high school.  As he worked, Antoine’s goal was always to go to college to further his computer education.  In 2003, five years after his father’s disappearance and presumed death, Antoine received a letter with his father's handwriting and signature.  Shocked and thrilled to hear that his father had survived, Antoine and his family traveled to Zambia to reunite.  Their father had made it to Kala Kala Refugee Camp in Zambia, where he had been trying to reach his family for the past 5 years.  Because his father could not return to Congo for fear of his life, the family decided to stay together in Kala camp.  When FORGE went to establish a computer lab in Kala in 2005, Antoine’s computer experience made his the natural choice for Computer Instructor.  Antoine accepted the opportunity to help his fellow refugees learn the same skills that had helped him in life, and for the past 2 years has been teaching a full load of classes in English, French and Swahili.  During this time, Antoine has written a computing textbook over 400 pages long in simple French, including topics in computer basics, Word, Excel, Access, Power Point, and Internet Explorer.  With Congolese refugees now returning home, many of Antoine's former students have contacted him, reporting that they had secured jobs because of their basic computer knowledge.  Antoine is ready to go to college, but refuses to leave until his assistants at the Computer Center are ready to take over in full.  In his time with FORGE, Antoine has learned the many ways that his skills can benefit others.  When he returns to college, he will study humanitarian organization management.  To this, he says, "I now know much about computers, so I'm dreaming to one day help other refugees when my refugee status is gone."

 

To Subscribe to the FORGE Newsletter, go to: 
http://visitor.constantcontact.com/email.jsp?m=1101599056141

Like many of you I watched the Live Earth concerts last week and inspired by the music and the mission decided to take on Al Gore’s "7 Point Pledge" asking us to take personal action in curbing global warming. As Al Gore presented his seven challenges I was thrilled to know that by working with Better World Books either through buying from our online Carbon Neutral store or saving the surplus books on your campus-you answered the call.

You can sign the Live Earth Pledge by visiting www.liveearthpledge.org

Posted by: Sarah Lynne Reul, Senior East Coast Director


A few weeks ago, Luanne Zurlo, the Executive Director of our Latin American literacy partner Worldfund, visited our Mishawaka, IN warehouse (she mentions her visit in Worldfund's latest newsletter). The timing was great since all of the Regional Directors were in town for our annual meeting (we all work from our regions around the country).

Luanne gave a presentation about the issues of education in Latin America to all of the BWB staff - the Worldfund site also has some solid resources on the Latin American education gap.

Posted by: Sarah Lynne Reul, Senior East Coast Director

The National Center for Family Literacy's Success Stories section is currently featuring a Phi Theta Kappa book drive at Chattahoochee Valley Community College (Student volunteer earns national honor while supporting NCFL)

Sharon Darling, the Executive Director of NCFL (pictured right) & Emily Kirkpatrick, Senior Director visited our warehouse back in May.

Posted by: Sarah Lynne Reul, Senior East Coast Director

Here's a great article about the Better World Books Fund from Books for Africa's most recent newsletter: Better World Books Fund Announced

"The Books For Africa / Better World Books partnership continues to grow and grow! In early March, establishment of the Better World Books Fund of Books For Africa was announced at a special ceremony at the Better World Books warehouse in Indiana. The first check in the amount of $55,000 was formally presented. This revolving fund, providing $165,000 in each of fiscal years 2007 and 2008 (to defray shipping costs), will enable the shipping of well over 17 containers (600,000 books) to Africa in the coming fiscal year.

“We are thrilled to be able to set up the Better World Books Fund with Books For Africa and provide a committed stream of funding for specific book shipments that our partners (student groups, libraries, corporate book drive sponsors, and the general public supporting us through their purchases on www.Betterworld.com) can help directly support and sponsor,” said Better World Books President and CEO, David Murphy. “Working closely with our supporters and Books For Africa, the Better World Books Fund will make a very immediate and significant impact by getting desperately needed books to more African children in more communities throughout the continent."

If you're a student, bookstore manager or faculty member currently involved with a BWB book drive and you'd like to help get books to a specific place in Africa, contact your Regional Director to learn more about getting involved with the BWB Fund.

The rest of the newsletter has some great articles on BFA's first shipment to Chad, a shipment to Sudan, an article about a school receiving books in Ghana as well as recognition from Liberia's General Consul and a U.S.-Kenyan Ambassador. Archived issues of BFA's newsletter can be found in the newsletter section of the BFA website.

Posted by: Christian Blue, Sales Representative


It is truly an exciting time to be involved with Better World Books.  When you consider BetterWorld.com, the affiliate program, and the addition of some incredible new staff members; it is difficult to be subdued. 

As I write, we are transitioning into our new office space to allow for our imminent expansion.  When I began here in Atlanta (only 5 months ago), we were five.  We have grown in to 10 down here in Atlanta and have our sights set on the future. 

It is my hope that between this space and the well-oiled machine that is our Mishawaka warehouse, we will be the cutting edge company that our corporate friends will model themselves after and follow our lead into creating social profit. 

Do you want to send us mail?  Address your letter/Library SignUp Form to:

Better World Books
1105 Lakewood Parkway, Ste 205
Alpharetta, GA 30004

Note: Please do not send books to this address.

Southeast Leadership Award - July 2007
Posted by: Mary Murphy, Southeast Senior Regional Director

I would like to announce the Southeast Leadership Spotlight Award for July: Mr. Irving Steel from the University of Georgia.  Irv went above and beyond for the 'Book Drives for Better Lives' Program on campus.  As you can see from his summary below he is most definitely deserving of this Leadership award!

 "...I started to gather group support for the project through my fraternity of almost 100 men.  I posted messages on bulletins for large classes through our online system, WebCT and I posted messages to the different list serves...After the fall drive, I recruited other groups to help make the spring drive bigger and better.  I organized what each group was going to do and divided the campus for our groups to have a better drive.   I wrote an editorial piece for our student newspaper that has a huge readership. I spoke at several meetings throughout the year to promote the drive.  I was in contact with the assistant to the President,  I was in contact with the head of  Residence Life...  I put up posters in high traffic areas and I was able to get our informational/planning meeting on the UGA front page, www.uga.edu.  The planning meeting was great to facilitate brainstorming for the drive and we presented a powerpoint to student volunteers.  I contacted a member in our student government to help me with the facebook event to get many student government leaders involved and help them to spread the word. 

    I learned a tremendous amount from working on the book drive and I feel extremely lucky to have had the opportunity to help others. I believe we have a great opportunity at UGA to create an extremely large drive which could turn into a campus movement. I have been mentoring some freshmen TEP to take over the drive and I made sure to thank all those who helped our drive so that those who helped will be inclined to do so in the future."

                        -Irv Steel

Posted by Natasha Harris, Senior West Coast Director

We recently heard from Holly Hickling, Camp Operations Coordinator for FORGE, currently on the ground in Zambia.  FORGE has been a long-time partner of Better World Books, and we are proud to help support the work that they are doing in refugee camps in Zambia.  Below is Holly’s update from one of FORGE’s latest undertakings:

These pictures are from the 2 weeks that I spent in Kala Camp last month, building an addition on the FORGE house. Well, for me it was not so much building as it was watching people build, and then paying them. I did get my hands dirty a couple of times, but I definitely don't deserve as much credit as the men and women who really put their sweat into it. 

This house was made from almost all local raw materials. The only things we brought in from town were nails, door hinges, and cement. When I arrived at the Kala House, the 1500 bricks for the addition were already drying in the sun in our yard. They had been made with water, mud from our yard, and rectangular wooden molds.

The refugee construction crew started digging the foundation, painstakingly measuring every angle to make sure the construction would be flawless. As the foundation was started, other people started gathering the additional raw materials we would need for the house, cutting grass, bamboo, and cord from the fields for our thatched roof. Local carpenters started working on cross beams, as well as doors, door frames, windows, and window frames.

When the bricks started going up, the mortar was made from mud from our yard. The addition includes a bedroom that can hold 5 people and a beautiful open air kitchen that will make cooking, eating, and socializing more easy, efficient, and fun. The bedroom has a nice hard cement floor, and the walls are also plastered nicely, again with mud from our yard. After the walls went up, strong cross beams were secured to the top, with sticks of bamboo running across the roof, tied to the cross beams with strong cord. Then dried grass was tied in bundles to the bamboo. I'm not claiming to understand the physics of the whole thing, but this house will withstand the elements for years.  

Who knew that one's backyard could contain such a wealth of building materials!  

Just like this addition was efficiently built to be long lasting using local resources, the 5 students who sleep in it will build their programs in Kala Refugee Camp using local ideas, local talent, and local staff. The team of 10, who I participated in training in Los Angeles, will arrive in Kala Camp in one week. They will only stay for 2 months, but the programs that they work on, like our house, will be long lasting. Not only will refugees gain skills in reading, health education, business, and computer literacy to use in Kala Camp, but they will be able to take those skills back to D.R.Congo when they return to help rebuild their lives.

Posted by Sarah Lynne Reul, Senior East Coast Director

Last week Better World Books received a visit from the New York Times. The reporter wrote an interesting piece on different ways to part with beloved used books.

Here's an excerpt "…Better World Books offers a different option. Started by some freshly minted Notre Dame graduates in 2002, it collects used books and textbooks from about 1,000 campuses and 700 libraries nationwide.

As an individual, you can donate if you pay for shipping yourself; but you can buy anything off its Web site and shipping is free anywhere in the country."  Click here to read the full article...

One of the pictures taken on our warehouse floor - the photographer even bought a book for his book club!

Posted by Sarah Lynne Reul, Senior East Coast Director

...but they need your help!

Click here to check the 15-minute video titled "Nepal: A Girl's Life". This Frontline piece chronicles the life of Sabina Timilsinain, a young Nepalese girl & recipient of a Room to Grow Scholarship.
PBS has not yet decided whether the piece will air on national television. They're monitoring how many hits the website receives before making the decision.

Please check it out today & let us know what you think!

Posted By: Sarah Lynne Reul, Senior East Coast Director

We just received this great email from Pat Plonski, the Executive Director of Books for Africa:

Subject: Container to Kenya
Hello -

I am pleased to inform you that a 40-foot container of textbooks left our St. Paul warehouse today bound for the port of Mombasa, Kenya for distribution in that area of Africa.  Funding for a 20-foot container was provided for this container; BFA has utilized $1k from the Better World Books Fund to defray shipping costs of boosting this to a 40-foot container.

Thank you for this support of education in Kenya!
-Pat

This is just the first of a number of shipments that will be sponsored by the newly-formed Better World Books Fund - this 40-foot container holds about 35,000 books! Stay tuned for more BWB Fund updates.


Representing Friends and Alumni of KU at the ceremony were Dr. Leah Keino and Dr. Ebby Luvaga of Iowa State University, Dr. Jane Rose Njue of Northern Illinois University, Dr. Agnes Odinga of Hamline University, and Dorothy Rombo (faculty on study-leave from KU) of the University of Minnesota, who have all been actively involved in this project since October 2006. Also present were Wilfred Pere, and James Wakiaga, First Counsellor at the Kenyan Embassy.

Posted by: Jacob Fu, Sales Representative

The Better World Books Library Team traveled up to Washington D.C. on June 22 for the Annual ALA Conference.  It was a great chance for us to meet our current clients and also share about our Library Discards & Donations Program to those who were unfamiliar with it.

We had a great time in the city when we did have some free time to spare.  One evening, we had a great meal at Legal Sea Foods where the waitress actually recognized our company from the logo on our shirts!

Back at the show, we had the opportunity to introduce a number of our new program features. These and also answers to some of the most common questions asked are listed in the posting below.

Thanks again to everyone who stopped by our booth!  We hope to see you all soon!

Posted by: Walter Sears, Associate Director

Last Tuesday, I attended a meeting with a group of public library administrators to discuss Better World Books’ Library Discards & Donations Program.  We enjoyed boxed lunches from Heavenly Ham, and spent the afternoon discussing this simple, yet effective solution to managing surplus gift books and weeded material.  Popular topics included:

Acceptable Material Guidelines – Types of material accepted by Better World Books

BetterWorld.com Online Sidewalk Sale – Browse inventory by zip code and library name on BetterWorld.com

BetterWorld.com Affiliate Program – earn 5%-8% on purchases from BetterWorld.com

Thanks again to our host for organizing this wonderful event.

Better World Books is exhibiting at the upcoming ALA Conference in D.C.  Stop by booth #1405 for a chance to win an iPod. 

Safe Travels!!

Posted by: Mary Murphy, Senior South Regional Director

Helping Higher Education to Recycle!

 Leon County Recycling Services & Education in Tallahassee FL has teamed up with Better World Books to help encourage our local universities to recycle their “no value” textbooks.  At the end of each semester, the 50,000 Tallahassee students try to get some value back for the books they bought at the beginning of the semester.  Inevitably, some of these books are worth nothing.  That’s where Better World Books (BWB) comes in.  Normally the bookstores take these books back and throw them away as a service to their customers (students).  However, BWB has developed a system for reselling, reusing or recycling textbooks.

 Using their turnkey approach, no books wind up in the landfill, literacy programs benefit both with increased funding or books to distribute and kids of all ages can learn to read.  In addition, BWB provides funding to groups on campus who serve as collection crews for the books.  To date, BWB has diverted over 4,700 tons of books from going into landfills.  They have also provided over 520,000 books and $2 Million dollars to various non-profits in the US and around the world.

                 In two book drives, Leon County diverted 3 tons of books from the landfill.  Currently we are working with Florida State University but are planning on expanding to Florida A&M and TCC this summer.  This is a very easy program for any local government to participate in.  All you need is a contact at the University and some room to store boxes.  BWB handles the rest!  For more information check out Better World Books on the web at www.betterworldbooks.com or contact Mary Murphy, Southeast Regional Director, mary@betterworldbooks.com or (770) 596-7497.