International

Donation and Shipment of Books

 

Be Thoughtful-Tips on Donating Used Books

If you are interested in donating books to countries overseas, there are several organizations that distribute books to other countries. Many of these organizations distribute books overseas at no cost to the donating person or library other than shipping costs to the U.S. facility.

Be aware however, that most organizations only accept new books or books in good condition-these are not places to "book dump" unwanted literature. Books that are outdated, damaged, and worthless are going to be just as useless abroad. Make sure that the information is going to be useful to the schools or people receiving them and that the information is in a language that they can read and understand. Finally, the materials must be culturally appropriate for the audience that is going to receive them.

Donation Organizations

What follows is a list of organizations that distribute books to other countries. It is important to contact these groups beforehand, to find out what kind of books they need and are hoping to receive for distribution. General book donation organizations are listed first, followed by regional book donation organizations.

General Book Donation Organizations

Book Aid International
39-41 Coldharbour Lane
Camberwell, London
SE5 9NR
Phone: +44 20 7733 3577
Fax: +44 20 7978 8006
E-mail: info@bookaid.org
Web site: http://www.bookaid.org/

Books for All
Brunhildenstr. 34,
D-80639 Munich, Germany.
Phone: : + 49-89-17 23 83
Fax: + 49-89-260 78 96
Web Site: http://www.ifla.org/VII/s10/1996/b4all.htm
and http://www.ifla.org/VII/s10/bfa03.htm

Brother's Brother Foundation
1200 Galveston Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15233-1604
Phone: 1-888-232-1916 or 412-321-3160
Fax: 412-321-3325
E-mail: mail@brothersbrother.org
Web Site: http://www.brothersbrother.org/

Darien Book Aid Plan, Inc.
1926 Post Rd.
Darien, CT 06820
Phone: 203-655-2777
E-Mail: BookAid@aol.com
Web site: http://dba.darien.org/

International Book Bank
P.O. Box 1662
Baltimore, MD 21203
Phone: 410-685-2665
Fax: 410-362-0336
E-Mail: info@internationalbookbank.org
Web Site: http://www.internationalbookbank.org/

Sabre Foundation, Inc.
Book Donation Program
872 Massachusetts Ave.
Suite 2-1
Cambridge, MA 02139
Phone: 617-868-3510
Fax: 617-868-7916
E-Mail: Colin McCullough at colin@sabre.org
Book Donation Program information at http://www.sabre.org/books/books.html

Regional Book Donation Organizations

AFRICA

Books For Africa
253 East 4th Street
St. Paul, MN 55101
Phone: 651-602-9844
Fax: 651-602-9848
E-Mail: bfa@booksforafrica.org
Web Site: http://www.booksforafrica.org/

Bookfriends International, NFP (AFRICA)
1000 Rand Road #206
Wauconda, IL  60084
USA Toll Free (877) 726-8777
Office (847) 726-8776
Fax (847) 726-8775
Web site: http://bookfriends.org/default.aspx

ASIA

The Asia Foundation
Books for Asia Program
80 Elmira Street
San Francisco, CA 94124
Phone: 415-656-8990
E-mail: Gavin Tritt at gtritt@asiafound.org
Web site: http://www.asiafoundation.org/Books/overview.html

Bridge to Asia
665 Grant Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94108-2430
Phone: 415-678-2990
Fax: 415-678-2996
E-Mail: asianet@bridge.org
Web Site: http://www.bridge.org/books.html

For a list of additional organizations, see:

Donation Alternatives:

An alternative use for your old books would be to sell them and donate the money to a program that purchases new books for schools and libraries in developing countries.

The World Library Partnership runs a book certificate program that enables African libraries to purchase books at the Zimbabwe International Book Fair. This gives the librarians the opportunity to choose what they purchase, thereby ensuring that the materials will match the needs and interests of library users. For more information see: http://worldlibraries.org/bookcertificates/

 

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International Donation and Shipment of Books