Maura Varian, Acquisitions Support Manager, hatched a brilliant plan earlier this year. One day, she thought, "Hey, we collect books. We sell books. And, most of us even read books. So, why don't we help people learn to do what we love most?" And, today, that plan is a step closer to fruition.

As of last week, 11 Better World Books employees have graduated from our local literacy council's tutor training program. The employee-tutors will be utilizing the company's new volunteerism benefit for this program. In essence, they'll be compensated for their time as if they were working away in our distribution center. For Better World Books, providing direct service -- be it tutoring, painting houses, or playing with children with disabilities -- is just as valuable as receiving, scanning, and shipping books. In the end, it's all about creating a Better World.

And, Maura's not done there. In an article which was released today by the South Bend Tribune, she is ready to take her dream of local literacy even further, saying I'd "like to see the partnership grow to eventually allow the company's own employees who have issues with literacy to get the help they need from the Literacy Council while they're on the job."

Thanks, Maura, we're right there with you!

For the full article, click here.

Posted by Rudy Reyes Jr., Director

A few years ago, in the midst of my doctoral studies, I had the privilege of joining with a professor of early Christianity at the University of Notre Dame to teach a course on pilgrimage. One of the central tenants of our exploration of this religious phenomenon was an old adage: “Often, it is not so much the destination, but the journey of getting there.” Each year, for example, tens of thousands come and go from the Way of Santiago de Compostella in Spain. Some travel the entire length of the Way, and others only a few miles. Many will never see the great Cathedral, but it is, in the end, about the journey. I was reminded of this a week or so ago when one of the bibliographers in our Antiquarian, Rare, and Collectable Books section shared with me a tattered blue volume bearing the name of Aldous Huxley.

Posted by Jack Hanlon, CBO & Evangelist


(the author of this great article, Amanda Brouillette)

Over at the Red and Black, the student newspaper of the University of Georgia wrote an article that simultaneously talks about how sweet we are:

Better World Books has given more than 864,600 books directly to Books for Africa, as well as the National Center for Family Literacy, which helps here in the United States.  They've also raised $900,000 of unrestricted funding for Books for Africa, www.booksforafrica.org, since May of 2002.

A warehouse full of books at the Books for Africa headquarters in Minnesota is useless without the incredible amount of funding necessary to ship the books all the way to Sudan, Darfur or Ethiopia. This unrestricted funding ships the books across the Atlantic, and ensures their transportation inland to different countries and villages.

It's hard to comprehend being forced to share my only book with six other students, but Fresew said that is the case, even in Africa's private schools.

while talking about what the local Bulldogs can do to help:

As you finish your finals, get closure on that ridiculously hard class - take a walk to one of the bright green boxes that says, "Book Drives for Better Lives," and let the bane of your semester save someone else's life. I promise you, it's worth it.

Check out the full article here.

Posted by Aaron King, Director of Campus Acquisitions

When this company was in it's youth there were 3 founders and their friend from Purdue who started book drives around the state of Indiana.  Throwing books in the back of a van, that friend, Aaron King, is now a book drive General, managing the campus divisions 1500+ schools.  Check back here for tips on how to make the most of your drive from the best in the business!

-Tip 1

Without further ado, here is tip #2:

TIP #2:  PROMOTE YOUR BOOK DRIVE ON ALL CHANNELS!

An ideal book drive will have collection boxes and posters and fliers all over the campus to make book donation easy;  the sad truth is that there are still a lot of people out there who would gladly donate their books, but for some reason they just don't know your book drive is happening!  There are a few easy steps you can take to remedy this problem:

• Create a facebook event and invite EVERYONE;  here is an example I just made that you can copy: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=16553624047&ref=share  Make sure you  include details about where and when people can donate on your campus!  
• Get the student newspaper to write an article about the amazing book drive project you are coordinating.
• Tell all your friends. (and have them tell their friends.  And their friends' friends.  Eventually, your friends' friends' friends will come congratulate you on your book drive)
• Ask your professors to make announcements in classes.
• See if campus radio will make an announcement for you
• Competition: I can provide you with details on how your biggest rival schools are doing with their book collection efforts.  Sometimes, the best way to bring your campus together for one great event is by sticking it to your rival...
  

Hopefully, these strategies can ensure that everyone on campus knows to give their extra books to your book drive.  And remember, our Campus Acquisitions Team is here to make it as easy as possible for you to collect as many books as possible on your campus.  Please feel free to contact us any time.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for Tip #3.

Posted by Jack Hanlon, CBO & Evangelist

Hey all, sorry about the minor paucity on das blog.  The last days have been jam packed with resituating the SF office, going to the Clean Tech conference at Stanford and most importantly, getting ready to rock the Chicago Greenfest!  As the official bookstore of the conference we're going to be doing author interviews, t-shirt giveaways and book sales.  Awesome.  We promise do have some great things going on and check back here for more news on what to expect.

Posted by Jack Hanlon, CBO & Evangelist

With the exception of academics, and a few serious writers such as NYT's David Carr or the ever loved/hated Sasha Frere Jones ("lack of miscenegation in indie music" seriously, Sasha?) plenty of music criticism comes off as hipster tripe or "rockist" rambling.  33 1/3, the series from Continuum offers a legitimate venue for serious music writers to scribe their research and thoughts about everything from the musicality of great records to the meaning of lyrics to the techniques in the recording.  Each book is a densely packed wealth of knowledge about one particular record.  Thus far I bought Neutral Milk Hotel's "In an Aeroplane over the Sea" as well as My Bloody Valentine's "Loveless" and David Bowie's "Low."

I can't express this enough, this series is awesome.  Whenever I'm going to do a book review, I like to make sure we have it in stock, and if we don't, take the steps needed to get it in stock.  This series I was so excited about I was crossing my fingers when I checked Betterworld.com (which makes it much harder to type, incidentally) but we have many of them!

Anyway, the series in question is called "33 1/3" (after the RPM of a record player for an LP).  You can find their blog here, or the wikipedia entry here.

Posted by Jack Hanlon, CBO & Evangelist

Here at Better World Books we reach our do-gooder tentacles to many different realms, but now we've cracked a new one: publisher.



Yup.

If you're looking for an objective review of our first book: Jazzocracy, head over to All About Jazz.

An excerpt from the review:

How Will Two of American's Quintessential Icons Foretell the Future?

Presenting Jazzocracy: Jazz, Democracy, and the Creation of a New American Mythology by Kabir Sehgal (Better World Books)

If one wonders how two of the most quintessential American icons relate to each another, consider this thought by one of New Orleans' favorite sons: “Jazz is democracy in action," said Wynton Marsalis.

Ever more so in New Orleans, where the birth of jazz reflected the ease of a mix of many cultures: Caribbean, European, African, among many others. The intent of these cultures to express their ideas to one another via music, civic discourse, festivals, and of course, books, is one of America's most vivid successes.

With its commitment to the promoting literacy worldwide, Better World Books is pleased to return to the New Orleans Public Library for the premiere of the very first book of its new publishing imprint.

On April 17, Better World Books will bring Jazzocracy: Jazz, Democracy, and the Creation of a New American Mythology to New Orleans. Written by Kabir Sehgal, an exciting new author who began the book under study with Douglas Brinkley at Tulane University, Jazzocracy argues the evolution of jazz and democracy is forming our next set of mythologies to govern culture, politics and economics.

For any other writer under the age of 30, these might be dusty topics. But new author Kabir Sehgal magnetizes the two using his personal experience as a jazz musician, political campaign consultant, economist and writer. A graduate of the London School of Economics and Dartmouth College, Sehgal is also a professional jazz bassist, and has played with the Wynton Marsalis Orchestra. He has also worked with the presidential campaign of Sen John Kerry, as well as in the offices of Senators Max Cleland and John Rockefeller, IV. He is an economist with JPMorgan in San Francisco. Jazzocracy is his first book.

[CONTINUE...]

Posted by Aaron King, Director of Campus Acquisitions

When this company was in it's youth there were 3 founders and their friend from Purdue who started book drives around the state of Indiana.  Throwing books in the back of a van, that friend, Aaron King, is now a book drive General, managing the campus divisions 1400+ schools.  Check back here for tips on how to make the most of your drive from the best in the business!

Episode 1:

TIP #1:  PLACE COLLECTION BINS IN YOUR CAMPUS LIBRARY

You probably know that high-traffic areas are the best places to collect books this spring, including near/in the bookstore, in residence halls, and in student unions; an area on campus that is often neglected is your Campus Library. 

BOOST BOOK DRIVE PERFORMANCE MORE THAN 20%:

It’s true!  Book Drives that include the Campus Library often increase the number of accepted books collected by more than 20%.

MAKE SURE TO:

• Obtain permission from the library administration
• Order extra collection bins from your BWB representative
• Check and empty the bins regularly
• Sort the books according to the Qualifying Books document provided by your BWB representative
• As a nice gesture, at the conclusion of the drive, send a handwritten “thank you” to the library administration thanking them for their support of the book drive
  

So, if you are looking for a way to increase the number of accepted books you collect this spring, contact your Campus Library and see if they will allow you to set up a collection box—it’ll be worth the extra effort.  And remember, our Campus Acquisitions Team is here to make it as easy as possible for you to collect as many books as possible on your campus.  Please feel free to contact us any time.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for Tip #2.

Posted by Jack Hanlon, CBO & Evangelist

OK, so it's not ACTUALLY anything of the sort, but at this link you will find centerfolds... of the most spectacular libraries in the world.  As someone who lived in Europe and saw some of the ones on the list, let me tell you, they are nothing short of spectacular.  More info about where the pics are from over there.

Wow.

Posted by Mary Murphy, Southeast Senior Director

The Phi Theta Kappa International Convention was everything we expected it to be…an amazing group of people from throughout the United States and as far away as Guam and the United Arab Emirates with positive energy, intellect, enthusiasm and compassion!  It was so much fun to see everyone – thank you to everyone who came by our table to say hello!  Here is a picture of Broward Community College – South Campus, a stellar Phi Theta Kappa in Florida!



In the picture, L to R,  Heather Dulman, Darwin Lopez, Troy Jeffers, Gracia Bonilla, Kendall Ramsijewan, (recipient of the Guistwhite scholarship) Natassicia Pemberton, Mary Murphy (Better World Books) and Tayna Hall-Harris.