Rare Book Monthly
Wait! Don't Burn that Book, Donate It
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If you are on the west coast of the U.S., the Global Book Exchange in Novato, CA, collects and distributes donations of used texts and library books, but I'm sure they'd be delighted to have any good books. Their mission is to promote education and literacy worldwide. You can Go to their website at www.globalbookexchange.com or call Marilyn Nemzer at (415) 883-2665.
Rotary Club International also implements book projects in developing countries. In other countries that have indigenous Rotary Clubs and Rotary International will match funds for shipping. You can either call your local Rotary Club or call Rotary International (847) 866-3000.
The Brother's Brother Foundation distributes donated medical, educational, agricultural, and humanitarian response resources to people in need of them internationally. They have specific book donation programs such as Books Across the Sea, Jamaica Book Program, and Ghana Book Program. Give them a call at (412) 321-3160 or email at mail@brothersborother.org.
If that is not enough, try the non-profit, Books for the Barrios, which is dedicated to strengthening elementary school education in the Philippines. You can call them at (925) 687-7701 or email them at frantzic@usna.edu.
Then there is the American Chemical Society's Project Bookshare that collects chemistry textbooks and back numbers of journals from donors and makes these materials available to libraries in selected small U.S. colleges and to university libraries in mostly developing countries. These are books that are hard for us booksellers to get rid of, but when donated, they help improve the educations of chemists and chemical engineers in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. For more information, visit the Project Bookshare website.
I would also call your local school district office and ask them if there are any schools in your area that need books. Not just kiddie books, but also technical schools, community colleges, Magnet schools, and universities. I have teacher friends whose school districts are so poor that the teachers use some their own meager salaries to buy books for their kids. Check that out before you give up.
