Posted by Jack Hanlon, CBO & Evangelist

I came across a pretty interesting article by Rachel Donadio in the New York Times this Sunday. Check out a bit of it: Some years ago, I was awakened early one morning by a phone call from a friend. She had just broken up with a boyfriend she still loved and was desperate to justify her decision. “Can you believe it!” she shouted into the phone. “He hadn’t even heard of Pushkin!”

We’ve all been there. Or some of us have. Anyone who cares about books has at some point confronted the Pushkin problem: when a missed — or misguided — literary reference makes it chillingly clear that a romance is going nowhere fast. At least since Dante’s Paolo and Francesca fell in love over tales of Lancelot, literary taste has been a good shorthand for gauging compatibility.

Reading this, (despite the overt and somewhat heavy handed Pushkin reference that flies in the face of Donadio's later quip a la Burroghs about the guy holding Beckett's "Proust") I was intrigued. We've all had relationships that went one way or the other and education and taste in books (and movies) has definitely been an issue in the early stages. I remember a girl I dated who was rather offended when I referred to Grisham as "beach worthy kitsch" and another who could never understand my lack of appreciation of the perfection of Austen's complete works.

Posted by Jack Hanlon, CBO & Evangelist

Check out this month's edition of our recurring feature, Worldfund's Student of the Month.  Worldfund is our Latin American non-profit literacy partner and we look to support them in any way we can as they support youths such as:




Dina!

Six-year-old Dina is a kindergarten student at Worldfund’s partner school in El Salvador, Mano Amiga San Antonio . A confident and friendly girl, Dina works hard in school and helps with chores at home.

Sadly, she already has experienced myriad hardships, including a life of poverty, abandonment by her father, and the death of her mother. Dina and her younger brother Oscar live with their elderly grandmother, Adela. Until recently, they lived in a house that was constructed with sticks and scrap materials and located in a community made up of small islands surrounded by raw sewage and trash.

In 2006, the school’s Director arranged for Dina to attend Mano Amiga San Antonio. Dina’s enrollment marked a turning point in the lives of everyone in her family. Dina’s brother Oscar is now a student at the school, and the Director facilitated the family’s move into a house in CIDECO (Centro Integral de Desarrollo Comunitario), a special community affiliated with the school that provides housing, medical care and access to literacy, hygiene and other classes that help families live with dignity and transition out of poverty. Adela, Dina and Oscar have benefited from the activities and classes, learning to eat with plates and utensils, and learning about personal hygiene, among other things.

The scholarship that Dina receives enables her to receive a high-quality education and she takes advantage of all that the school has to offer. Since Dina enrolled in the school, her attitude has improved significantly. She especially enjoys attending her pre-mathematics class and playing soccer with her friends.

The stark contrast between Dina’s life before and after enrolling in the school demonstrates the transformative effect that generous donations and high-quality education have on impoverished children’s lives.

Post swiped from the NCFL's hot new blog, "Literacy Now."

The good times just keep rolling! Here are some of the conference highlights from Monday:

• 
  David Murphy of Better World Books helped open the general session with thoughts about how Better World Books are working to .merge commerce and philanthropy in a way that will make the world a better place. One simple way to do that…shop BetterWorld.com to buy books from a company that balances profit, planet, and people.
• Marie Bradby shared the background and inspiration for her book, More Than Anything Else.
• The NCFL photo booth wrapped up with almost 70 groups visiting and having their pictures made. Keep an eye out for your picture in your local paper!

And we were honored with some great coverage in the local newspaper in Louisville. Click here to see the online version of Monday’s article in the Courier-Journal.

Photo gallery and comment over at the original post

Posted by F. Xavier Helgesen, Co-Founder

At Better World Books, we've built a business that is fundamentally based on the idea of reuse. With over 2 million customers choosing reused books over new, we have become an expert in finding new homes for old books. But why limit ourselves only to books? I sure can't find a good reason, so it is with great pride that today I announce the launch of Better World Blend Coffee!

All around the country, coffee shops buy and brew the world's finest coffee beans. But after only one brewing, all that coffee is thrown out, or at the very best, composted. Why turn perfectly good coffee into potting soil when people all around the country need a fair price on a good cup of joe? We will be launching a nationwide Coffee Drive to collect the country's coffee grounds. Once back in Mishawaka, the grounds will be carefully combined into Better World Blend - a blend of delicious coffee (only used once! many of our books have been used five or six times!).

Better World Blend will sell for a mere $1.99 per pound (you can pre-order here). Compare that to the $10 a pound that your local shop charges for gourmet beans. And no need to grind those beans! Just add hot water, and you have delicious coffee, ready to serve. Of course, each pound of Better World Blend will taste a bit different than the last, but hey, that's part of the charm.

Better World Blend will not only usually be delicious, but will have an important social mission. Our nation's under-tipped baristas are struggling to make ends meet. With each pound of  the Blend purchased, 38 cents in change will be dropped in a local tip jar of your choosing, allowing our nation's baristas to fully pursue their dreams of becoming graffiti artists and covering Jack Johnson songs at open mike nights.

Posted by Jack Hanlon, CBO & Evangelist

Psst... I've got a secret about Better World Books!

In the not so distant future, here are some things you can look forward to:

A Better World Books facebook fan page
A Better World Books facebook app to RSS the blog
And best of all... a prettier and 100000% more functional blog (including author bio's, recent post lists, recent comment updates, social bookmarking, Flickr streaming and more!)
Posts that include author interviews, contests, polls and a myriad of staff picks and new features!
Me being able to get some sleep instead of working on these supersweet updates (hooray!)

Posted by Abby Rae LaCombe, Rocky Mountain Regional Director

Niko [Tomlinson, Midwest Senior Director] and I got to meet up with Dustin [Holland, Head of Acquisitions] and LPTZ (the Library Division) yesterday to see John Wood speak here in Minneapolis. It was really awesome. John Wood is a FUNNY guy, and handsome as heck, and he started Room to Read – very cool cat. Very sincere cat. He really believes in the mission of RTR. He was discussing the ultimate dreams of the organization and said that anywhere there is illiteracy is where Room to Read eventually wants to be. They are planning to expand farther into Africa this year and eventually, who knows, perhaps the whole globe will have RTR schools and libraries available.

Anyhoo, he gave a bunch of new RTR numbers that I thought I’d pass on. I think a lot of this is available through their website, but why fish in a lake when you can aim in a barrel?* Exactly.

Read the rest of the article after the jump.

By Will Eaton, Account Representative

Well, I have not read any good books lately but I had a great story told to me by a potential LPTZ client. At their local county library directors meeting, a fellow director got up in front of their colleagues to RAVE about this new Discards & Donations program that she had been introduced to. The statement made was “Hey, the program is free, they pay for your shipping, and all you have to do is scan a book and they tell you immediately if they can use it or not!!! It’s as simple as that”.

She also stated how books usually sold for 25 cents at the libray book sale, but with our program she stood to make a quarter more per book and support literacy at the same time. This library director was so excited that the potential client telling me this story said that she went on, and on, and on; which lets me know that word of mouth still remains by far the best marketing tool! By the way, the supporter of our program has not even signed up yet but is this excited based on a good conversation. YOU CANNOT BEAT THAT!!!

Posted by Jack Hanlon, CBO & Evangelist

You may have noticed that for the first time since August when I took over this blog there's been a bit of a posting lull.  Two reasons come to mind: first of all, I'm traveling across the country by car with all my earthly possessions, from Boston to San Francisco.  Second, we're redesigning the new, totally awesome blog, that's going to launch (cross your fingers) next month.

On my trip, I've been to a number of fantastic places, including the St. Louis Arch, the Great Plains, Arches National Park and today the Grand Canyon.  Tomorrow I'll be going to the Hoover Dam and crashing in L.A. (anyone have a place to stay?).  In honor of this I thought I'd find some books about each of them because seriously, if you've never been, go to them!  Tomorrow's post will be chock full of great books about some of the landmarks that you should check out be you a visitor to the US or someone who lives here.  (The drive through the Rockies on I-70W is of the "life-changing" variety.  Unbelievable). 

Also, meeting the incredible people I've met, in diners, gas stations, national parks and on the road helps keep me even more in touch with our mission of simultaneously promoting global literacy while lining your bookshelf.

By the way, if you're traveling, may I suggest the "Lonely Planet" series.  They're funny when they need to be and well laid out.  I lived in Ireland and traveled around most of the countries in Europe and without my guides I would probably still be lost in Germany somewhere.

Posted by Jack Hanlon, CBO & Evangelist

Over at Lifehacker they have an awesome idea that solves two problems: first of all it gives you a place to keep all your books (from www.betterworld.com, natch) and if you're still hurting on your coolness, the storage technique is aptly known as "Invisble Floating Bookshelves."

Check out the instructional video and take a step towards a new hipper April.

Posted by Niko Tomlinson, Midwest Senior Director

Having worked with the Human Services Club at Dakota Wesleyan University
since the Spring of 2006 book drive (5 straight semesters, excellent
commitment to book drives and service!), I admit that I didn't know much
about the amazing work they were doing outside of the bookdrive.  I think
one of the more impressive things about many of the student groups we
partner with is that they not only put forth a great deal of energy and
passion into the book drives but also lend this commitment to their
communities, their schools and their fellow students.  I want to let amazing
deeds shine here because they are a great example of the impact student
organizations can have:

By Jacob Fu, Account Representative

So if you haven’t noticed, the Library Division has grown a significant amount in the past few months.  In fact, the entire Atlanta Office has really exploded and it’s been both exciting and overwhelming!

You can see the growth of the entire Atlanta Office in the Diagram below (keep in mind this does not include our massive warehouse in Indiana).

Having more people down here has really made the day-to-day work much livelier.  Just today, we had Fiesta Friday Potluck Lunch, which we would have never done before.  We even started a team for the Office Complex Softball League!

More importantly, it’s really given us the opportunity to pay more attention to all of the libraries we partner with!  It’s been such a significant change to have others to help manage all of our relationships and I hope that you all will benefit from that positive change.

On another note, anyone have any good stories from St. Patty’s Weekend?

Posted by Aaron King, Director

[This is Part Six of Aaron's "Campus Division in Cambodia" story. Here's Part Five and this is the final installment!]

Friday January 4, 2008

I think it can go without saying that we began our day with a delicious breakfast at the hotel. Our first stop today was to visit a couple of floating schools; schools actually on large boats in the river. Apparently as the seasons change, and the fishing areas change, and the level of the river changes, this school can be in several areas up and down the river. We were told that one challenge is that sometimes during the rainy season, some families will leave the village, and the students are unable to attend school.