BWB REMEMBERS THE BOOKS OF OUR CHILDHOOD (3 OF 3)
The third and final part in our Children’s Book Week series on the books that BWB employees remember from their childhood. Don’t forget...
We aren't just doing business as usual with a little charity work tacked on. Doing good is written into our business model. Here are a few of the ways we make a difference.
It's simple: Every time you purchase a book from BetterWorldBooks.com, we donate a book to someone in need. The books we donate go through our non-profit partners Books for Africa and Feed the Children.
Books donated as of May 1, 2013: over 9 Million
You can learn more at the Book for Book page.
Our long-term relationship with our non-profit literacy partners allows you to support literacy with every purchase. Organizations like Room to Read, the National Center for Family Literacy, Worldfund, and Books for Africa receive funding from every book we sell.
"The impact of National Center for Family Literacy has grown thanks to the more than $740,000 investment from Better World Books. The ever-changing and ever-challenging economy requires a new commitment to lifelong learning for everyone – from the more than 30 million adults who lack basic literacy to college graduates who showed a decline in reading proficiency compared to their peers a decade before."
Emily Kirkpatrick VICE PRESIDENT, NATIONAL CENTER FOR FAMILY LITERACY
"Better World Books has transformed Books For Africa, its impact starting with a single small donation in 2003. In fact, Better World Books has long been and remains the largest single donor to Books For Africa and our largest source of university-level books for shipment to Africa. In 2010, we sent 1.9 million books to 23 African countries. We simply could never have done this without the support of Better World Books and their ongoing support of our warehouse operations and infrastructure."
Pat Plonski EXEC. DIRECTOR, BOOKS FOR AFRICA
LAST UPDATED May 1, 2013
A few of our specific beneficiaries include:
Our Literacy and Education in Action Program (LEAP) funds literacy and educational nonprofits and libraries for specific projects — the front lines of the fight to reduce global poverty through education.
Here's how it works: Nonprofit groups or libraries write up what they will do with their grant (down to the dollar), and then we fund the projects we think will have the biggest bang for the buck.
LEAP projects are funded through our General Literacy Fund, which means we grant them in addition to the regular stream of revenue we already earmark for libraries and our nonprofit partners. See a list of all the LEAP projects around the world here.
Before there was LEAP, we funded projects via the Readers' Choice Literacy Grants (RCLG). We funded projects like literacy training in Africa, teacher training in Guatemala, and reading assistance workshops where kids struggling with literacy were encouraged to read to companion dogs.
As part of our commitment to environmental sustainability, we never, ever throw away a book. Any book we cannot find a proper home for is recycled.
We're not just "greenwashing" our message, and we've got the numbers to prove it.
Every order at BetterWorldBooks.com has the option to be shipped carbon balanced for just a few cents extra. So far, we have reached 37,500 tons of carbon offsets on BetterWorldBooks.com shipping.
We partner with 3Degrees, a leading green power and carbon balancing firm to secure verified carbon offsets and RECs from wind farms. Specifically we are using our carbon offsets to support the Tatanka Wind Farm, the largest renewable-energy project in North and South Dakota. This landmark wind farm will generate enough clean energy to power more than 60,000 homes!