Used Textbook Waste Reduction Opportunities

• Introduction
• Reuse
  • Local Programs
  • International Donation Programs
  • Other Book Reuse Resources
• Recycle

Introduction

School districts spend valuable time and storage space packing, stacking, moving, and storing obsolete materials, such as used textbooks. Additionally, the disposal costs for a large quantity of used textbooks can be significant. Used and outdated textbooks may, however, be of value to someone else. By exploring reuse options first, before recycling, the books can provide maximum environmental efficiency and value.

The Desert Sands Unified School District in La Quinta, Calif. saved more than $123,000 in one year by donating three tons of old textbooks to developing countries through the use of several local charities. This program has been in place since the late 1970s and has consistently grown over time. For more information, contact Sandee Ross at (760) 771-8571.

The following list of services and information should help simplify the process for finding a new home for your school district’s used textbooks. In many cases, collection or recycling service is available at no cost because fees are often covered by the textbook salvage value.

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Reuse

Local Programs

Check your Yellow Pages for a local book surplus center. Most centers gather and then redistribute used books from school districts to those in need within a general geographic area.

Academic Book Services, Inc.
Academic Book Services, Inc. provides “take-alls” where the company actually purchases used textbooks and either refurbishes them for resale or recycles them through their OneSource company. They pay for shipping and handling if there are items that they can resell and recycle; if the value is not high enough they will arrange for the books to be processed locally. They have three buyers who cover the state of California. For further information, call 1-800-621-4272 ext. 5107 to arrange a visit from the local representative.

Follett Educational Services
Provides an economical and environmentally sound place to buy and sell textbooks. While based in Illinois, this company does accept texts from California. However, donors might be expected to pay the shipping costs to the Follett Educational Services warehouse. For more information, call or write to:

1433 Internationale Parkway
Woodridge, IL 60517
Toll Free: 1-800-621-4272
Phone: (630) 972-5600

Goodwill Industries
Goodwill accepts donated textbooks, workbooks, and library books and will generally pick up books anywhere in the state. Goodwill Industries International is the membership organization comprised of all locally-based Goodwill Industries organizations. Every Goodwill has its own chief executive officer and board of directors who make policy decisions affecting how the Goodwill operates its services, stores, donations and other businesses. Please use our Goodwill Locator to contact these leaders in your area.

International Book Project, Inc.
The International Book Project (IBP) is a not-for-profit book distribution organization that has distributed over 5 million books to needy communities around the globe. These volumes stock the shelves of village libraries, primary and secondary school classrooms, community centers, churches, and universities. IBP accepts a wide range of quality used books. They are particularly interested in classic and contemporary literature, fact books (history, business, biographies etc.), children’s literature and picture/story books, dictionaries, primary, secondary, and higher education textbooks, copyrighted after 2000, and books in Spanish and French. For more information contact:

Van Meter Building
1440 Delaware Avenue
Lexington, KY 40505
Phone: (859) 254-6771
Toll Free: (888) 999-BOOK (2665)
Fax: (859) 253-2293

Libraries
Many cities or counties have local libraries that accept used book donations. Some libraries have even developed a program called "Friends of the Library" in which donated books are collected from individuals to add to their catalog or for reuse in the community. Check with your local library regarding their book donation policy, as some programs do not accept used textbooks. For more information or to schedule a drop in time, contact your local public librarian. Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations (ALTAFF) also provides information donating books.

Rotary Clubs
Local Rotary Clubs participate in various community and global service projects, including book donation activities and programs. For example, many individual Rotary clubs provide books to developing countries. In fact, in other countries that have indigenous Rotary Clubs, Rotary International has matched funds in the past for shipping. Contact your local Rotary Club for further information.

Salvation Army
The Salvation Army accepts donated textbooks, workbooks, and library books. There are numerous drop-off points throughout California. For more information or for drop off locations, visit their donation web site or contact them at:

180 E. Ocean Boulevard
Long Beach, CA 90802
Telephone: (562) 436-7000

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International Donation Programs

This list is not all-inclusive. These programs, however, have indicated that they do accept K-12 textbooks. For more international book donation programs, see the additional resources below.

International Organization for Chemical Sciences in Development, Books for International Development
The goal of this project is to provide university-level books to developing countries around the world. Recent wars, natural disasters and continued poverty have created a need for new university libraries and holdings. Donated books will be shipped to the recipient country by large shipping container (20,000 pounds per shipment). Although science books are in greatest demand, they will accept donations of any university-level books in other disciplines, which can be textbooks or others. Journals are also needed, but should cover some period of time no less than one year. Material donated should typically be no more than 15 years old and in very good condition. For additional information, please contact:

Dr. M. James Cosentino
Millersville University
Office: Caputo Hall Rm. 117
Phone: (717) 872-3034
E-mail: james.cosentino@millersville.edu

Bridge to Asia Books Program
With the help of more than 2,000 donors, Bridge to Asia has sent 4 million books and journals to China and Asia. Bridge to Asia will host a local collection at the donor’s location (i.e. school district site) but only when quantities justify costs. For more information about donating visit their web site or contact a representative at:

665 Grant Ave
San Francisco, CA 94108
Phone: (415) 678-2990
E-mail: Asianet@bridge.org

Books for Africa
Books for Africa is a nonprofit organization seeking to share America’s wealth in books with the English-speaking countries of East Africa. They accept textbooks from schools, mainly in the Midwest. To obtain more information and sending specifications please see their web site.

The Conejo Valley Unified School District in Thousand Oaks, California donates used textbooks to the Commons Coalition for West Africa in partnership with Books for Africa.

Books for the Barrios
Books for the Barrios is a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening elementary school education in the Philippines. If you are interested in donating your used textbooks, or would like more information, see their materials donation page or contact them at:

2350 Ste. D Whitman Lane
Concord, CA. 94518
Phone: (925) 687-7701
Fax: (925) 387-8298

Books for Children of the World
This program is an affiliate of World Vision (formerly Brother to Brother International) that specializes in international donations of goods in high demand over seas. Books for Children of the World requests elementary and high school level textbooks. For more information or to arrange shipping, contact Reverend David High at:

6701 North Bryant
Oklahoma City, OK 73121
Phone: (405) 721-7417

Commons Coalition for West Africa
An organization dedicated to augment the quality of life for the well being of the citizens of West African countries by providing educational, medical, recreational and other humanitarian aid resources. They accept books in good condition, levels K-12, and no more than 10 years old. For more information, e-mail okici@aol.com or contact George Lange at:

35 Cantera Street
Thousand Oaks, CA 91360-2612
Phone: (805) 493-2226

Ethiopian Community Development Council, Inc. (ECDC)
Through their Educational Development program, ECDC collects, ships, and distributes donated books and educational materials to institutions of higher learning in Ethiopia. They need chemistry text books at the high school level and also have some need for journals. They accept classroom sets as well as individual copies. For more information about supporting this program and/or donating books, contact Tori Wolan, director of development, at (703) 685-0510 or via e-mail tori.wolan@ecdcinternational.org.

Egyptian Student Association in North America, Annual Book Campaign
Through the annual Book Campaign (initiated in 1997), donated books and journals are collected from all disciplines to update the libraries of Egyptian Universities. Every year, ESANA members collect donated books, references and periodicals and ship them to an Egyptian university. For more information about book donations, contact the Book Campaign manager to make sure the collected material is needed and the campaign is still in the collection phase, otherwise the shipping expenses might NOT be reimbursed.

Sabre Foundation
The Sabre Foundation welcomes donations of high-quality, up-to-date educational materials from publishers, institutions, and individuals. All donation offers are considered in light of the special needs of Sabre partner organizations abroad and not all donation offers are accepted. For more information on making a material donation to Sabre, please see Sabre's donation guidelines or contact Colin McCullough at (617) 868-3510.

Sudan-American Foundation for Education, Inc. (SAFE)
This organization seeks to improve education in Sudan, particularly at the university level. SAFE does this by delivering donated books, equipment, and other educational materials needed by colleges and universities in Sudan. Books in almost every academic discipline or field are needed. Because of the expense in shipping books to Sudan, they ask donors to adhere to specified selection criteria. For more information, contact SAFE at:

4141 N Henderson Road, #1205
Arlington, VA 22203 USA
Phone: (703) 525 9045
Fax: (703) 351 0782
E-mail: mailto:burchinal@erols.com

World Bank Family Network’s Book Project
The mission of the Book Project is to support children’s education in developing countries through book donations. This program ships more than 120,000 books every year to institutions such as schools and libraries in developing countries throughout the world. The Book Project receives its books from schools, public libraries, universities and individual donors in D.C. and the neighboring states. The Book Project also receives new books from publishers from time to time. While the World Bank will gladly accept donations from school districts within California, they do not have a budget to ship books within the United States; thus, donators will be required to pay shipping costs to the warehouse in Maryland. For more information or to arrange a shipment, contact them at:

1818 H Street NW, JB3-105
Washington, DC 20433
Phone: (202) 473-8960
E-mail: wproject@worldbank.org

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Other Book Reuse Resources

Directory of Book Donation Programs. Compiled by Gretchen Walsh and the Book Famine Task Force of the African Studies Association (1992). Updated and revised by Deborah M. LaFond, Index by Marieta Harper, Africana Librarians Council, Book Donation Committee, November 2000.

Recycle

If reuse options are not available or feasible, consider recycling used textbooks. Check with your city or county recycling coordinator and county office of education to see if there is current contract for textbook recycling with a local hauler or recycler. If not, Earth’s 911 may help identify a local recycler for used textbooks in your area:

• For recycling, pollution prevention and other environmental information in the United States, Earth’s 911 provides a comprehensive database of local programs by ZIP code. For more information visit the web site or call toll-free at 1-800-CLEANUP.

Additionally, the following examples include community book recycling programs that have been developed in other areas and may be duplicated in your area.

Butte/Glenn Counties: North Valley Services
School districts and libraries in and near Butte and Glenn Counties give their discarded books to the Glenn County Workshop (aka North Valley Services). Disabled workers at this nonprofit State of California Department of Rehabilitation, work center will remove covers, shred pages, and sell it all to a recycling center to support their work.

To find out if there are centers that do this kind of work in other regions, look under "California, State of; Rehabilitation Department" in the white pages of your telephone directory. You may also search under "Recycling Centers" and commercial recycling organizations. Or contact your local government to inquire about sponsoring work centers that partake in this variety of work.

Fresno County: Allan Company Recycling 
Allan Company accepts "soft cover" books or hardback books with the cover removed for recycling. Schools throughout Fresno County have used Allan Company to recycle their old magazines as well as their soft back books. For more information for recycling in the Fresno area, call or write:

2607 East Woodward Avenue
Fresno, CA 93721
Phone: (559) 264-4804

Orange County:
Serving Orange County, Taormina Industries/CVT accepts used textbooks for recycling. Prior to transporting texts, please call to verify the volume of textbooks to be sent, so that the appropriate accommodations may be made. For more information, visit them on the Web or contact them at:

1131 North Blue Gum Street
Anaheim, CA 92806
Phone: (714) 238-3300 ext. 3062

San Bernardino County: Victor Valley Materials Recovery Facility
The Victor Valley MRF will accept used textbooks for recycling. Prior to transporting texts, please call to verify the volume of textbooks to be sent so that the appropriate accommodations may be made. For more information, contact:

Robert Rios
1700 Abbey Lane
Victorville, CA 92394
Phone: (760) 245-8607

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