Our Impact

Social Impact

  • Collected over 10 million books through active book drives at over 1200 colleges and universities and collections from over 750 libraries
  • Raised over $2.3 million for over 80 literacy and education non-profit organizations, including:
    • More than $1.3 million for Books for Africa
    • More than $250,000 for Room to Read
    • More than $300,000 for the National Center for Family Literacy
    • More than $15,000 for Worldfund
    • More than $70,000 for the Robinson Community Learning Center
    • More than $375,000 for additional literacy partners
  • Raised over $75,000 for the New Orleans Public Library Foundation
  • Raised more than $1.2 million for libraries and thrift stores nationwide
  • Contributed more than $850,000 to college service clubs who have run book drives

    • Impact Story from Room to Read

  • Directly sent more than 570,500 books to Books for Africa, the National Center for Family Literacy, and Feed the Children
  • Donated $20,378 worth of freight to non-profit partners

Environmental Impact

  • Saved over 5,250 tons of books from landfills
  • Reclaimed more than 680,000 pounds of metal shelving from libraries across the United States
  • 150 tons of carbon offset on Betterworld.com sales

Economic Impact

  • Created over 130 full-time jobs (with full benefits) and revitalized a dormant packaging plant in an industrial center located in Northern Indiana

Situation: A Global Illiteracy Pandemic

  • Globally, an estimated 781 million adults are illiterate. Of that number, approximately 64 percent are women.
    - UNESCO Institute for Statistics
  • In the United States, 30 million adults possess below-basic literacy skills. Eleven million are non-literate in English.
    - National Assessment of Adult Literacy
  • In Sub-Saharan Africa, 42 million children are not enrolled in school.
    - WhiteHouse.gov
  • Asia is home to 73 percent of the world’s illiterate population.
    - UNESCO Institute for Statistics
  • In Latin America, most children attend school an average of 5.4 years.
    - U.S. Agency for International Development

Metrics Matter

The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship reports that socially entrepreneurial individuals and organizations possess, “a zeal to measure and monitor their impact,” adding that, “Entrepreneurs have high standards, particularly in relation to their own organization’s efforts and in response to the communities with which they engage. Data, both quantitative and qualitative, are their key tools, guiding continuous feedback and improvement.”

We recognize ourselves in that description. As a social venture dedicated to finding new uses for old books and funding literacy, Better World Books is metrics-obsessed.