International Donation and Shipment of Books
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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 Books that are outdated, damaged, and worthless are going to be just as useless abroad.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.
For information on how to donate books within the United States, please visit the site.
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:
Books for All
502, EH4, Eldeco Utopia,
Sector 93A, Expressway,
Noida, India 201304
Phone: : + 1204546127
Email: contact@booksforall.in
Web Site:
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:
Biblio Sans Frontieres.org
Zac de la Couronne des Prés
66, Avenue de Pátis
78680 EPONE
France
Email: info@bibliosansfrontieres.com
Phone: +33-145257561
Web site:
Darien Book Aid Plan, Inc.
1926 Post Rd.
Darien, CT 06820
Phone: 203-655-2777
E-Mail: BookAid@aol.com
Web site:
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:
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:
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:
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:
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:
AMERICAS
The African Library Project
Website:
P.O. Box 2162
Berkeley, CA 94702
REFORMA Children in Crisis Project
Web site:
HJH Libraries for All Program
1716 Del Norte Blvd.
Loveland, CO 80538
Email: janem101@aol.com
Web site:
Child Aid
917 SW Oak St. Suite 208
Portland, OR 97205
Tel: (503) 223-3008
Email: hjhprogram@aol.com
Web site:
For a list of additional organizations, see:
- Donation Programs For Books, Journals and Media, a list compiled by the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Health Sciences Library, at:
- List compiled by the African Studies Association (ASA)
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.
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