Book Donation Agencies for the English speaking world
Asia Foundation / Books for Asia
www.asiafoundation.org
80 Elmira Street, San Francisco, CA 94124, U.S.A.
Phone: +1- 415-656-8990 or Fax: +1- 415- 468-8379
Contact: Gavin Tritt, Director at
gtritt@asiafound.org
or
booksforasia@asiafound.org
The Asia Foundation's Books for Asia program donates new and high quality used books on all educational subjects and at all levels. Field offices of the Asia Foundation distribute the books to libraries, universities, schools and other institutions in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. Please contact the nearest Asia Foundation office (often in capital cities of project countries) and ask for the Books for Asia Programme.
Books Abroad / Mennonite Mission Network
www.mennonitemission.net/Work/BooksAbroad/
Great Lakes office: 500 S. Main St, PO Box 370, Elkhart, IN 46515-0370, U.S.A.
Phone: +1-866-866-2872 or Fax: +1- 574-294-8669
BooksAbroad@MennoniteMission.net
or
info@MennoniteMission.net
Every year Books Abroad sends two tons of books to more than 60 countries abroad and to emerging churches in North America. The books go for example to Indonesia, Kenya, Finland, Liberia, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Philippines, Poland, India, Nazareth, Paraguay and Australia. All books are sorted and in good condition. Please contact the Mennonite Mission Network for more information.
Book Aid International (BAI)
www.bookaid.org
39-41 Coldharbour Lane, Camberwell, London SES 9NR, United Kingdom
Phone: +44-20-7733-3577 or Fax: +44-20-7978-8006 or e-mail:
info@bookaid.org
Contact: Erica Lang (Head of Programmes) for East Africa: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Middle East, North
Africa, Palestine, Lebanon, Sudan.
Diane Ward (Programme Manager) for Southern Africa: Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and
Asia: Mongolia, Nepal.
Yaso Kunaratnam (Programmes & Projects Officer) for Horn of Africa: Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somaliland
and the Carribean: Cuba, Guayana, Jamaica.
Currently shared responsability: West/Central Africa: Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone.
Formerly known as the Ranfurly Library Service (RLS) of London, Book Aid International works since more than 50 years in partnership with organizations to provide book support for education and literacy programmes in developing countries, mainly in Africa. They send out new and used books in good condition that are not older than 15 years. The books are donated by publishers, schools, libraries, colleges and individuals and distributed by the partner organizations of each country. The organization also supports the local book market and local publishers. Assisting rural libraries and schools has priority. The U.S. counterpart is the Ranfurly Library Service of New York (see entry below).
Please write your request to Book Aid International with the following information: Objectives of
your organization, full contact details, the sort of books being requested,
how the books will be used and who will use them, where the books will
be placed and whether there are any libraries or resource centres nearby.
You can also contact your regional partner organization, which you can
find at:
www.bookaid.org/cms.cgi/site/partners/countries/
Books for Africa
www.booksforafrica.org
253 East 4th Street, Saint Paul, MN 555101, U.S.A.
Phone: +1-651-602-9844 or Fax: +1-651-602-9848 or e-mail:
bfa@booksforafrica.org
Contact: Patrick Plonski, Executive Director at
Patrick@booksforafrica.org
A non-profit organization seeking to share books with the English-speaking countries of East Africa. They are the largest shipper of donated textbooks to the African continent and have shipped over 12 million textbooks to 26 countries since 1988. Projects have involved Tanzania, Swaziland, Liberia and the Gambia as well. The organization only sends books in good condition as class sets. The majority of the books are hardcover textbooks, primary through college level.
Books for International Goodwill (B.I.G.)
www.big-books.org/
Parole Rotary Club, P.O. Box 6327, Annapolis, MD 21401-0327, U.S.A.
Phone: +1- 410-293-6865 and Fax: +1- 410-293-6895
Contact: Steve Frantzich, Professor at
frantzic@usna.edu
or via
www.usna.edu/PoliSci/faculty/frantzich/frantzich.htm
B.I.G. is a non-profit charitable organization providing gifts in kind in cooperation with the public and private sectors. They ship books from individuals, bookstores, schools or libraries to needy countries in Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and other areas of the world. The books are sorted into three categories: college texts, high school and elementary texts and general reading for libraries. They try to make sure that all college texts are less than 10 years old and that high school and elementary texts are less than 15 years old. The books are sorted and stored by volunteers. Shipping can be paid by the Rotary Club or ship companies, but B.I.G. always looks for recipients who could pay for transportation. By combining donations from shipping companies, local Rotary funding, and Rotary International matching grants, over 1.3 million books have been shipped. Please contact B.I.G. or the nearest Rotary Club to apply for books.
Brother’s Brother Foundation (BBF)
www.brothersbrother.org
1200 Galveston Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15233, U.S.A.
Phone: +1-412-237-2333 or Fax: +1-412-321-3325
Contact: Carol Taylor, International Educational Program Coordinator at
ctaylor@brothersbrother.org
The Borther's Brother Foundation is a non-profit charitable organization providing gifts in kind in cooperation with the public and private sectors. Working with volunteers in host countries, they have sent over 8,000,000 books to schools, universities and civic organizations since 1986. Brothers' Brother Foundation typically deals in very large quantities (a ton may be considered a small quantity). They provide medical supplies, textbooks, food and seeds to countries all over the world. Their Educational Program helps developing countries to build educational infrastructures by providing donated books and educational materials to Africa, South and Central America, East Europe and Asia. All donated books are screened to ensure that they are usable and relevant. Currently 15% of donations are used books and 85% are new books. Once a recipient is established, BBF makes available a book list for the recipient to select titles and quantities. On the website you will find an online application for receiving donations.
Canadian Organization for Development through Education (CODE)
www.codecan.org
321 Chapel Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 7Z2, Canada
Phone: +1- 613-232-3569 or Fax: +1- 613-232-7435
Contact: Sean Maddox, Director of Development at
codehq@codecan.org
CODE is a Canadian charitable organization that has been promoting education and literacy in the developing world since 1959. CODE builds the bridge of literacy by developing partnerships that provide resources for learning, promote awareness and understanding, and encourage self-reliance. CODE’s book donation programme is based on a long-term partnership arrangement with mostly non-governmental organizations in Ethiopia, Ghana, Guyana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Senegal and Tanzania. North American donated books are selected by local book committees from booklists that are made available to the partners by CODE’s affiliate organization, the International Book Bank (IBB), based in Baltimore, USA. The donation programme is supplemented by funding for the organizations that enables them to purchase books from local publishers or to publish books themselves for free distribution to the target audience. The different sources of books ensure that materials are relevant to the needs of the end users, the readers. CODE and partners also establish libraries, train teachers, librarians and other literacy agents to support quality education for children. Please ask CODE headquarters for the nearest local organization or have a look at their website at www.codecan.org/english/overseas.html .
On the website you can also download Book Donations for Development , a handbook written by Mauro Rosi of the Division of Arts and Cultural Enterprise of the Cultural Sector of UNESCO and edited, designed and printed in Canada by CODE. This handbook builds on the work of UNESCO, CODE and the International Book Bank. It provides both policy and practical information for donors and recipients of book donation projects. It is intended as an educational and training tool. It sets book donations within the context of the book chain and the importance of enhancing the book industry in every UN member state, with special attention to those in the Developing World. You can access the full pdf text of the 80 page publication on CODE's website: www.codecan.org/english/donations.html
Darien Book Aid Plan
dba.darien.org
1926 Post Road, Darien, Connecticut 06820, U.S.A.
Phone: +1-203-655-2777 or e-mail:
BookAid@aol.com
Contact: Peace Corps Volunteers shall contact Peggy Minnis at
BookAid@aol.com
Others shall contact Eleanor King at
Grameek@aol.com
Darien Book Aid Plan has books on different subjects that are less than 10 years old. They send
small boxes of books directly to libraries, schools and hospitals all over
the world. The organization does not accept magazines in general, but forwards
The National Geographic if it is less than 5 years old. Darien Book Aid
Plan does not work with partner organizations. Apart from libraries, they
also support local prisons with paperback books and give books to organizations
that hold fundraising book sales. Darien Book Aid Plan will send a postcard
informing you of the date of the transportation. They appreciate receiving
a thank you note with a picture of the library or institution.
Please write a letter to apply for book donations with the following information:
What kinds of books are needed? What does the library or institution look like?
What is the reading level of the audience?
Any other useful information that helps choosing the right books is appreciated.
International Book Bank (IBB) www.internationalbookbank.org
2201 Eagle Street, Unit
D, P.O. Box 4460, Baltimore, Maryland 21223, U.S.A.
Phone: +1-410-362-0334 or
Fax: +1-410-362-0336 or e-mail: ibbusa@internationalbookbank.org
Contact: Bradley Vogt, Director
at b.vogt@internationalbookbank.org
International Book Bank is a non-profit organization which works closely together with CODE Canada. Books are transported by ship from Baltimore harbour. Its recently openend Baltimore location provides warehouse and computer facilities for its activities which include: networking, computerized annotatedlists of books available, which are sent to potential recipients, supply through client agencies, feedback via questionnaires and surveys, and institituion building. Although most of its programs are large in scale, if a request, either from an African library wishing to obtain books, or a U.S. scholar with books to donate, fits with a current program, the request can be accomodated. Otherwise they can handle requests on a service contract basis (with charges to recover costs) either supplying books or handling donated books.
International Book Project, Inc. www.intlbookproject.org/
Van Meter Building, 1440
Delaware Avenue, Lexington, Kentucky 40505, U.S.A.
Phone: +1-859-254-6771and
Fax: +1-859-253-2293 or e-mail: ibpdirector@alltel.net
Contact: Lynda Jeffries,
Executive Director
International Book Project sends books to libraries, schools, hospitals and universities to developing countries and parts of the U.S.A. since more than 36 years. Books can be new from publishers or used from individuals,schools and libraries. They cover all levels, children's books through graduate and professional books. The donor can either send the books on their own, or arrange shipment with the Project for a fee, currently $3.00 per pound of books sent. On the website you will find an application form for book donations: www.intlbookproject.org/donate.php
Operation Bookshelf
Scarsdale Women´s
Group, 37 Drake Road, Scarsdale, NY 10583, U.S.A.
Phone: +1-914-723-0024
Contact: Edward H. Olivari
Operation Bookshelf is a small volunteer organization that ships used books and magazines to American Peace Corps Groups to the Philippines and Africa, where they are distributed directly to needy libraries and institutions. Different kinds of books are sent in boxes of 30 to 50 books. They fill requests on a first-come first-serve basis,subject to availability of materials. Please send a detailed list with your request to Operation Bookshelf.
Project Handclasp
c/o Commander, Naval Base,
San Diego, CA 92132, U.S.A.
Phone: +1-619- 532-1492
Contact: Commander M.C.
Tevelson
Project Handclasp uses empty cargo space on U.S. Navy ships to transport books and other humanitarian items to poor countries with Navy ports. Donations are not pre-selected and recipients are chosen by the Defence Attachés at U.S. Embassies. Please contact your local U.S. Embassy to find out if they participatein Project Handclasp and ask to be put on the recipients list.
Sabre Foundation, Inc. http://www.sabre.org/books/books.html
872 Massachusetts Avenue,
Suite 2-1, Cambridge, MA 02139, U.S.A.
Phone: +1-617-868-3510 and
Fax: +1-617-868-7916
Contact: Colin McCullough
at colin@sabre.org
Sabre Foundation, Inc., founded in 1969, works to build free institutions and to examine the ideals that sustain them. Its largest current project makes millions of dollars' worth of donated books available to needy individuals in developing and transitional societies worldwide through non-governmental partner organizations, libraries, universities, schools, hospitals and clinics, research institutions and other similar organizations. They specialize in providing college, secondary and elementary level educational materials to institutions and individuals. Since 1986, Sabre has donated four million new books, journals, videocassettes and CD-ROMs to more than 60 countries worldwide. Sabre also administers a program for purchase of books and journal subscriptions at reduced cost and places private libraries and special collections with institutions abroad. Sabre asks the recipients to preselect the books they need. Local partner organizations distribute the materials in the following countries: Belarus, Brazil, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Estonia, Ghana, Grenada, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Please contact the local partner organization of the Sabre Foundation. You can ask the Sabre Foundation directly for local contact information or find the information on their website.
SLA/New York Chapter/Global Outreach
Committee www.sla.org/chapter/cny
Jennifer Kellerman, Corporate
Reference Librarian, Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP, 1285
Avenue of the Americas, 27th floor, New York, NY 10019- 6064, U.S.A.
Phone: +1- 212- 373- 2457
and Fax: +1- 212- 373- 2268 or e-mail: jkellerman@paulweiss.com
Contact: Lilleth Newby,
Phone: +1- 212-447-2981, e-mail: lnewby@health.nyc.gov
or
lillethcnewby@cs.com
Lois Weinstein, Phone: +1-
631-839-7007 or e-mail: loisweinstein@hotmail.com
The New York Chapter of the
SLA (The Special Libraries Association) has a committee called Global Outreach
Committee that supports libraries in poor countries by donating vouchers
for Brodart, a library supplies company in the U.S.A. Please note that
the voucher does not include library equipment such as radios, computers,
phones or fax machines.
Please contact the New York
Chapter or fill in the online application form to apply for a voucher:
http://units.sla.org/chapter/cny/sponsorspage.htm
UNI-Book (Universal Book Effort)
5620 Williams Lake Road,
Deming, WA 98244, U.S.A.
Phone: +1-360- 592- 2382
and Fax: +1-360- 592- 9042
Contact: Rick Gates and
Sandi Madison, Directors at gates@az.com
UNI-Book is a non-profit corporation that donates used text books from public schools, universities, libraries and publishers. The organization is active in Africa, India and the former Soviet Union, but accepts request for English language books from all over the world. Please write a letter to UNI-Book with a description of your library, school or institution and information about the reading level and subject areas that are needed. UNI-Book appreciates a thank you letter with a photo of the library.
The World Bank Family Network (WBFN)
/ Book Project
Room JB3-105, 1818 "H" St.,
NW, Room JB3-105, Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.
Phone: +1- 202- 473- 8960
and Fax: +1- 202- 522- 0301
Contact: Josephine Barry
at bookprojectwbfn@worldbank.org
The Book Project receives, packs, and distributes donated books to educational institutions in rural and disadvantaged areas of developing countries. Books are donated to all school levels, libraries and community groups concerned with education. When enough book request forms are received from these institutions to justify sending a container of books to a country, WBVS finds a recipient organisation to clear the books through customs, notify the other organisations that the books have arrived and distribute them to the other recipients. The distributor can either be spouses/staff of World Bank Missions, the Peace Corps in countries where volunteers are working with libraries and schools, ministries, or local or international NGO's. WBVS Book Project sends four container loads of 480 boxes of books per year to developing countries around the world (shipping is paid to the nearest point of entry). Write to them for a book request form (do not contact the local office of the World Bank). Development workers or librarians visiting Washington D.C. can select books from their warehouse to take to libraries overseas. Due to the long waiting list of countries wanting shipments, it usually takes at least two years for WBVS to collect enough requests from one country, find a reliable distributor, pack the shipment and send it overseas.
The World Library Partnership (WLP)
3101 Guess Rd, Suite D,
Durham, NC 277705, U.S.A.
Phone: +1-919-479-0163 and
Fax: +1-919-479-8464
Contact: Laura Wendell,
Executive Director
The World Library Partnerships`
mission is to empower communities while supporting libraries in developing
countries. In their Book Certificate Program, the WLP provides libraries
with the opportunity to select and purchase new materials. This program
is an innovative alternative to traditional book donations as it supports
local and indigenous book sellers and publishers by purchasing locally
produced materials for libraries. WLP´s Online Library Resource Database
supplies communities around the globe with information about sources for
books, training resources, funding and programmes that are serving libraries
in developing countries.
They also connect libraries
in developing countries with partner libraries in the United States. Through
cultural exchange projects those library partnerships bring communities
together. Through fundraising they provide some of the world's most impoverished
libraries with desperately needed funds for books and supplies. Please
see the partnership guidelines for more information about how the program
works. To find out if your library is eligible, request an application
or find out more about existing partnerships and partnership opportunities
Bridges.org www.bridges.org
South Africa:
PO Box 715, Cape Town 8000,
South Africa
Phone: +27-21-465 9313 and
Fax: +27-21-465 5917
United States:
1887 Newton Street NW, Washington
DC 20010, U.S.A.
Phone: +1-512-320-9279 and
Fax: +1-202-318 7792
Contact: Philipp Schmidt,
Programme and Technology Manager at info@bridges.org
Bridges.org is a non-profit organization that promotes the effective use of ICT in the developing world to reduce poverty and improve people's lives. The online guide to free IT helps NGOs and small businesses to find donated computers, information about free software and email accounts. You will also find useful links to organizations that help you to set up and use the computer, links to organizations with volunteers that can help you via Internet, computer training materials and more. The organization distributes a CD ROM of the Free IT Guide to those who don´t have access to the internet. If you are interested in the guide, please write to: freeit@ bridges.org or download it at: www.bridges.org/toolkit/guide_to_free_it.html
Computer Aid International www.computer-aid.org
433 Holloway Road, London
N7 6LJ, U.K.
Phone: +44-(0)20-7281-0091
or e-mail: info@computeraid.org
Contact: Tony Roberts, Executive
Director at tony@computeraid.org
Computer Aid International is the world´s largest non-profit supplier of refurbished computers to schools and community organizations in developing countries. They test, refurbish, pack and ship donated Pentium computers from the U.K. for re-use in the non-profit sector overseas. They support libraries as long as they meet their criteria.
Techknowledgy (TKY) www.tky.org.uk/tky07/newmenu.php?page=Home
Technology for Developing
Countries, Glensheil, Trevella Road, Bude, EX23 8NA, U.K.
Phone: +44-12-8836-1199
or e-mail: info@tky.org.uk
Techknowledgy is a charity dedicated to working with people in the developing countries of Africa, helping them to benefit from modern technology and the knowledge to use it effectively. They support sustainable education programmes through the provision of computer equipment, teaching, access to the Internet and anything that helps with education and improving life in developing countries.
World Computer Exchange (WCE) www.worldcomputerexchange.org
936 Nantasket Avenue, Hull,
Massachusetts 02045, U.S.A.
Phone: +1-781-925-3078 or
e-mail: info@WorldComputerExchange.org
Contact: Timothy Anderson,
President at
TAnderson@WorldComputerExchange.org
World Computer Exchange is
North America's largest non-profit supplier of tested used computers to
schools and community organizations in developing countries. WCE provides
tested working Pentium and Power Mac computers to help connect more youth
to the Internet as well as sister-schools and volunteer support in technology,
content development, and telecentre management. They work with libraries
if most of the computers are used most of the time by youth.
CDS/ISIS Database Software www.unesco.org/isis
Micro CDS/ISIS is an advanced
non-numerical information storage and retrieval software developed by UNESCO
since 1985 to satisfy the need expressed by many institutions, especially
in developing countries, to be able to streamline their information processing
activities by using modern (and relatively inexpensive) technologies. The
software was originally based on the Mainframe version of CDS/ISIS, started
in the late '60s, thus taking advantage of several years of experience
acquired in database management software development. Several partners
contributed to its development through the years.
Individuals and Institutions
can download free Winisis database software from the UNESCO website. After
registering on the website, you will get a reply with the instructions
for downloading and installing the software.
For individual Winisis English
requests:
www.unesco.org/webworld/portal/processing/forms/cds-isis/form.php
For institutional Winisis
English requests:
www.unesco.org/webworld/portal/processing/forms/cds-isis/institutions/form.php
For individual Winisis Arabic
requests: www.unesco.org/webworld/portal/cds-isis/individual_request_ar.htm
For institutional Winisis Arabic requests:
www.unesco.org/webworld/portal/cds-isis/institution_request_ar.htm
KOHA Open Source Library Software www.koha.org
Horowhenua Library Trust,
10 Bath St, Levin, New Zealand
Phone: +64-6-368 1953
Contact: Rosalie Blake,
Head of Libraries
The Koha software is a full
catalogue, OPAC, circulation, member management and acquisitions package.
Please check www.koha.rwjr.com/downloads/Koha%20on%20Windows.pdf
to find a manual on how to install the software or check
www.koha.org/installation/support.html
to find out who can help you with the installation.
OPENISIS www.openisis.org
OpenISIS / sferix
Schlesische Str. 26, 10997
Berlin, Germany
Phone: +49-30-726265261
The OpenISIS society was founded to further the development and dissemination of open source information systems. OpenISIS supports libraries, archives and other public organizations like social movements to manage and retrieve information in a high quality way according to bibliographical principles. ISIS (Integrated Set of Information Systems) is an open software for databases for the documentation of text orientated data. The system is used especially by libraries and documentation centres. You will find a free download of ISIS on the website.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Please contact the ALADIN
Co-ordinator Lisa Krolak at l.krolak@unesco.org
for changes or additions.
Last Update: March 08, 2008.