A few months ago I heard about a shoe manufacturer, TOMS Shoes, who has a "One for One" charitable program. For every pair of shoes you purchase, they will donate a pair to a child in need. I think this is a wonderful program, but unfortunately, I'm just not into shoes.
At the time I read that, I thought to myself, "Now too bad there isn't a program like that for books." As anyone who knows me, I am definitely into books. I have tons of them, cluttering up my entire house. I am desperately in need of a new bookcase, but I've run out of walls in my house to erect another one. So we stumble around the piles of books in my house, and use them as conveniently located end-tables.
Well it just so happens, I recently came upon a website that is passionate about books and world literacy. The bookseller, Better World Books, has a simple charitable policy, "You buy, we donate - book for book." The process is very simple, every time you purchase a book from Better World Books, they donate a book to someone in need. The books they donate are distributed through these non-profit agencies: Books for Africa and Feed the Children. As of October 1, 2011, they have donated over 5.8 Million books. Wow.
What I like about this website is that they have a pretty decent collection of books for sale: contemporary fiction, non-fiction, textbooks, children's books, etc. The sites boasts they have more than six million new and used titles, so finding a book you like should be pretty easy. While they offer both new and used books, prices of the "new" books seemed a little high in comparison to Amazon. However, used prices are generally around $3.98. What I especially like is that the shipping is free on all book orders. This comes in especially handy when you just want to buy one book and don't want to mess around trying to have your order total $25 so you can qualify for Amazon's Super Saver Shipping.
Recently, I wanted to make a single book purchase: "Don't Know Much About Geography" by Kenneth C. Davis. Since this was just for our use for homeschooling, I was fine ordering it used. I found it listed on Better World Books for $3.98 and with free shipping, I thought that was a screaming deal. Then if you add in that my purchase will result in a book being donated to a child in need, it's a win-win situation.
So if you would like a way to indulge your passion for reading (or accumulating lots of books) and do some good in the process, I highly suggest you check out Better World Books. They are one online bookseller that is helping to make the world a more literate place.
Oh, and if you're not into books, but are into shoes... then check out TOM Shoes, where buying yourself a new pair of pumps can make a difference in the life of someone else too.
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