BETTER WORLD BOOKS

The 'Better World Books' website

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ONE BOOK AT A TIME

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"Better World Books collects and sells books online to fund literacy initiatives worldwide. With more than two million new and used titles in stock, we’re a self-sustaining, triple-bottom-line company that creates social, economic and environmental value for all our stakeholders."

I’m obliged to fellow bibliophile and good friend Tony Ryan for alerting me to this unusual site http://www.betterworld.com . The ‘online bookstore with a soul’ was founded in 2002 by a group of students from Notre Dame University who decided to earn money from online book selling and also donate some of those funds towards social and literacy programs around the world. As they explain “We’re not a traditional company with an add-on “cause” component. Social and environmental responsibility are at the core of our business. You could say it's in our DNA.We’re breaking new ground in online book selling. We believe that education and access to books are basic human rights. That's why books sold on Better World.com help fund high-impact literacy projects in the United States and around the world.” The site works like any other online book seller, you browse their selection make your choice and the book will be posted any where in the world for $3.97. The difference though is that part of what you pay will go towards contributing to individual literacy throughout the world and the promise of a better life. As well as selling new titles they also collect used books from campuses and libraries all over the U.S. to date having converted more than 13 million donated books into $4.6 million in funding for literacy and education. This has diverted 7,000 tons of paper waste from landfills. As they proclaim on their homepage “Thanks for joining us in our mission to create a better world, one book at a time.”