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During finals week, students will have a chance to make a difference in areas of the world where educational resources are severely lacking or absent by donating their mildly used textbooks to Better World Books and Books For Africa.
Collections will be held during finals week downstairs in FarinonCollegeCenter. Students may drop off books any time, but there will be Lafayette Environmental Awareness and Protection (LEAP) representatives available from noon-1 p.m. Dec. 12-15 to answer questions and spread the word.
“The main purpose of this drive is to redirect excess resources to where they are desperately needed,” says LEAP member Jen Tillman ’10 (Kensington, Md.). “I hope Lafayette students see how lucky they are to have so many resources readily available to them and are willing to donate books to help African schools in which it is common for seven children to share one book.”
LEAP first became involved with Books for Africa and Better World Books last year when Nancy Waters, associate professor of biology, brought attention to the fact that she and other faculty members had many unneeded textbooks in good condition filling up their offices. She suggested the idea of a book drive and presented LEAP with information about organizations that accept donated books. It was a big success last year, so the group decided to continue with it this year.
Members of LEAP collected books and textbooks from professors in November by placing donation boxes in every secretary’s office. They have just shipped 14 boxes of books off to Better World Books.
When the books reach Better World Books, they are looked over to decide which ones will be sent directly to Books for Africa, which ones will be sold on-line to generate funding for the non-profit partner of choice, in this case Books for Africa, or to be recycled. Since the biggest expense Books for Africa faces is shipping cost -approximately $9,500 to ship 25,000 books- monetary funding is just as important as book donations. Books for Africa decides where to send the books based on where they are most needed and will be put to the best use.
“We [LEAP] hope the student book drive is as successful as our professor book drive,” says Tillman. “We’d like to thank all the professors who generously donated books and encourage students to do the same to help a worthy cause.”
For more information contact Tillman or visit these two websites: Better World Books or Books For Africa.