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.

Posted by Aaron King, Director

[This is Part Five of Aaron's "Campus Division in Cambodia" story. Here's Part Four and look out for the subsequent tales in the coming week...]

Thursday January 3, 2008

Believe it or not, we again began the day with a phenomenal breakfast. We met up with a few RTR staff, and then took a van out to see the first school. Upon entrance, all the students were lined up and clapping for us. Similar to the fanfare of our first night, this was quite humbling; these students were so appreciative of RTR, and I was left feeling like I hadn’t done enough.

Posted by Aaron King, Director

[This is Part Four of Aaron's "Campus Division in Cambodia" story. Here's Part Three and look out for the subsequent tales in the coming week...]

Tuesday January 1, 2008

5am felt more like the end of the night than the beginning of a day. Unfortunately, this was too early for the breakfast buffet, so we had to forgo it and instead have breakfast to go in a box. We drove and hiked out to the temples in almost complete darkness. To our surprise, there must have been hundreds of people out there making the trip to see the first sunrise of the New Year over the temple. When the sun rose up over the temple, and cast a reflection on the pool in front, it was quite astonishing. I cannot imagine a better way to ring in the New Year than the overall experience I had in Cambodia.

Posted by Abby Rae LaCombe, Rocky Mountain Regional Director

At the conference, IMPACT invited Better World Books to discuss our awesome business model in a three hour forum entitled "Blurring the Lines: Public Good in the Private Sector."  Jack represented us on the panel, which also had a fellow Holy Cross grad, Ken DeBlois of the Venture Consortium in Providence, RI and some folks from the Willamette University MBA program.  It was very interesting and the attendees had a lot of great questions, but it was very clear that we here at Better World Books are doing something decidedly NEW.  So new and innovative (I LOVE our business model) that folks at times have a hard time comprehending it.  The example that jumps to mind is regarding the triple bottom line – “Even if you do value social and environmental, won’t profit always be most important?”

Now I’m no business major, but I’ve spent a lot of time trying to understand some business theory as Better World Books offers a unique opportunity to see something very exciting and new in the world of business from up close.  I always start my research projects on the Wikipedia and while you won’t feel like you have an MBA by the time you’re finished with the article, you will have some ideas of good terms to use in your triple bottom line research!

Triple Bottom Line

Social Enterprise

If you want to hear a little more about the topic, a full podcast of this forum will be available later this month!

Posted by Abby Rae LaCombe, Rocky Mountain Regional Director

In honor of the holiday ... Oh, hadn't you heard? Saturday, March 7 is International Women's Day! That's right folks, Better World Books is keepin' you up to date on the obscure but AWESOME holidays.

Anyway, in honor of the holiday, the Better World Books team has narrowed our list of most amazing, substantial and generally badass women (and through thorough debate and numerous arm-wrestling tournaments) down to 10.  We'll be the first to admit that it is not all inclusive, but it's a start ... Just in case you don't feel comfortable conversing on any of these fine women, we've included book suggestions:

(Listed in NO particular order ... seriously, that would be impossible)


Dian Fossey - Gorillas in the Mist


Maria Faustina Kowalska - Diary of...


Mother Teresa - In My Own Words


Princess Diana by Richard Buskin


Jehan Sadat - A Woman of Egypt


Eleanor Roosevelt by Russell Freedman


True Devotion to Mary by St. Louis deMontfort


Lynne Cox - Swimming to Antarctica

 
Jane Goodall - In the Shadow of Man


Rosa Parks - My Story

So get reading and here's your excuse to worship the ladies in your life (as if you don't all the time)

Posted by Jack Hanlon, CBO & Evangelist

We're currently at the Northeastern IMPACT conference (see previous post) I just got back from my forum (which was awesome!).  I'm going to do some editing of a recording of the forum so a podcast of the talk is coming up soon, great stuff indeed about mobilizing students and the differences in the sectors in the business world.  People asked me hard questions and I gave them honest answers [insert warm and fuzzy feeling here].

Now I'm playing Scrabble with three students at Middlsex Community College in Edison, NJ, and let me tell you, despite their smiles, they're rough customers.  Erin just laid down "Quell" on a triple word score for 45 points and is absolutely killing us.



Garima, Erin (hustler), Barum and Ham from MCC

Posted by Jack Hanlon, CBO & Evangelist


(Abby, me, Roselle) Yeah, ok, the bookmark is mirrored.  You can handle it!

Hey all, I'm currently at IMPACT/Idealist conference at Northeastern University this weekend.  After setting up our gear and breaking out Scrabble (I just put down "Fastens."  64 points!  All others, owned.  (Without Niko here I'm totally going to win).)
 
You can find us in the ballroom between the lovely ladies (Jessica and Amanda) at Hostelling International USA and the folks at UNICEF USA who are soon to arrive.  Later today I'll be an expert (seriously...) on a forum entitled "Blurring the lines: Public Good in the Private Sector" whilst my killer coworkers (seen above), Roselle (Mid-South Regional Director (ATL baby!)) and Abby (Rocky Mountain Regional Director (Reppin' Minnehaha!)), are kicking it live at the table.

Today's highlights will include my super sweet forum (look for a podcast coming soon), our ongoing scrabble throwdown, these sweet new www.BetterWorld.com

Tomorrow is our workshop and more well-meaning shenanigans... check in often for updates (and tomorrow for photos!) shirts and the very un-Boston 50 degree weather.

Posted by Aaron King, Director

[This is Part Three of Aaron's "Campus Division in Cambodia" story. Here's Part Two and look out for the subsequent tales in the coming week...]

Monday December 31, 2008

Before departure, we had breakfast at the hotel restaurant. This was hands down the most amazing breakfast buffet I have ever seen. Big trays of rice and noodles and stir fries and meats and eggs and bread and fruit were everywhere. The fruit selection alone would have been enough to put this breakfast over the top as one of my most amazing ever. I don’t think I even recognized half the fruits there.

Posted by Aaron King, Director

[This is Part Two of Aaron's "Campus Division in Cambodia" story. Here's Part One and look out for the subsequent tales in the coming week...]

Sunday, December 30th, 2007 After a few hours sleep we got up to explore the city. Our itinerary was to take us to Cambodia later that night, so we had limited time. Our consensus was to visit a nearby Pagoda. There were golden statues and tributes to Buddha all around where people could light incense and pray to Buddha and hope for good luck. The atmosphere was peaceful, serene, refreshing and relaxing, a good omen for things to come.

Posted by Jack Hanlon, CBO & Evangelist

Slate Magazine ran an article the other day in their "Hot Document" series that's sure to leave you shaking your head over what leaves high-schoolers scratching theirs.  

...the new education-advocacy group Common Core posed these and 30 similar questions about history and literature to 1,200 17-year-old high-school students (below on the following four pages), it discovered that American teenagers are "stunningly ignorant."

Common Core puts some of the blame on six years of George W. Bush's "No Child Left Behind" law, which forced schools to concentrate lessons on standardized-test measures for math and reading at the expense of education in the humanities. The organization debuted on Feb. 26 with a press conference that unveiled the findings in a glossy pamphlet titled Still at Risk, an allusion to the landmark 1983 education survey, A Nation At Risk. That earlier survey famously stated, "If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war." Apparently, we lost.

The test posed a series of questions whose answers even the slowest-witted high-schoolers might reasonably be expected to know. But only one question (Who gave the "I Have A Dream" speech in 1963?, Page 3), yielded the correct response on a near-unanimous basis (97 percent). Only 61 percent knew what the Renaissance was (Page 2), and only half knew why the Federalist papers were written (Page 3). Fewer than half knew when the Civil War was fought (see below). And this test was multiple-choice!

(Full story and full test over here)

Posted by Kim Emery, Administrative Support Specialist

Every once in a while, you read a book that crosses the line of entertainment  and into the realm of life changing. I am no longer the same since reading SOLD by Patricia McCormick. An easy read, this cleverly written tale follows thirteen year old Lakshimi's life in Nepal, and the devastation that led to her sale into child prostitution. The realities of the torment that follow, literally had me covering my mouth, in an attempt to stifle the moans of anguish I felt for her. As I read of Lakishimi's struggles to survive in this world so new and so devastatingly cruel, I found myself, hand over my heart, thinking of ways to rescue her. But in the end, I found myself sighing with relief and celebrating her victory. READ THIS BOOK! It will give you a perspective on life that is sure to change you forever...hopefully.

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:



Bruno!

Seventeen-year-old Bruno was born and raised in Salvador, Bahia, where he lives with his mother, a domestic worker, and his two younger sisters.

Bruno has always liked electronics and is working towards becoming an engineer. When he was 14, he was accepted into the Steve Biko Institute’s three-year, intensive after-school Oguntec Program, which prepares disadvantaged Afro-Brazilian students for the vestibular (university entrance exam). Last year, at age 16, Bruno took his first exam for admission to the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) and passed the first phase for Electrical Engineering. Bruno graduated from high school in December 2007 and hopes to begin his university studies in 2008.

Bruno believes that his participation in the Oguntec Program was the best thing that ever happened to him. It was as a student in this program that he learned that the word “quit” is not part of his vocabulary. He also learned that for a young man from a poor neighborhood, completing high school is not enough. He needs to dream of attending university. Bruno’s goals include attending university, establishing a career, and changing the economic situation of his family.

As Bruno states, “Attending university will make me the first, the first child, the first grandson, the first nephew in one generation to believe in the DREAM. Afterwards, I would like to return the Steve Biko Institute and become a professor in the Oguntec Program which I believe should always continue. It was at the Institute that I learned to have a social commitment.”

Posted by Abby Rae LaCombe, Rocky Mountain Regional Director



Niko and I are in San Antonio, TX attending a variety of educational sessions at CAMEX 2008 and celebrating warm weather (come check us out at booth 1145, next to Publisher's Row!  Massive floorplan here).  I was in a session discussing textbook rental programs and a question arose regarding what to do with the books when they are no longer applicable to the class.  What was the resounding answer (I promise I didn’t say it first!)?  “Better World Books!”  All I could do was sit back and glow with pride (and scheme how to get in to the totally sweet Jansport party this year...)