Used Textbook Waste Reduction Opportunities
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 Used and outdated textbooks may, however, be of value to someone else.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.
Reuse
CalMAX for California’s Schools
CalMAX for California's Schools (formerly called KidMAX) is designed to help you to find or exchange materials commonly used in California's schools. With the high cost of everything these days, CalMAX can help teachers and schools find all kinds of needed materials while saving money for other programs. Some of the materials commonly found in CalMAX that might be of interest for you or your school include garden supplies, containers, construction supplies, erasers, pens and pencils, laboratory supplies (non-hazardous, of course), paint, computers, arts and crafts supplies, cloth scraps, maps, text books, and more!
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.
Sacramento Surplus Book Room
Sacramento’s Surplus Book Room's volunteer staff collects and
redistributes used books from more than a dozen counties in Northern
California. For more information contact the Sacramento book
room at:
4121 Power Inn Road
Sacramento, CA 95826
Phone: (916) 454-3459
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
The Global Book
Exchange
The Global Book Exchange finds new homes locally and globally for
used texts and library books. Working with Marin County youth, educators
and service clubs, their goal is to promote education and literacy
worldwide. For more information or to make donation arrangements, contact:
Marilyn Levin Nemzer
821 State Access Roadd
Hamilton Field
Novato, CA 94949
Book Exchange Hotline: (415) 883-2665
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.
Indian Reservations
Many reservations accept donations of used textbooks to help
increase their local reservation libraries. To get further information
including donation requirements, contact the Indian Regional Office of Education at (916) 978-6057.
Contact
information for the various tribes is also available on the web.
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.
Friends of the
Libraries U.S.A. also provides information on how to donate books in
areas where the public libraries are not currently accepting donations.
Prison Literacy Programs
Books Behind
Bars is an ongoing book drive for prisoners
throughout the United States. Many prison libraries are in great need of textbooks to help
promote inmates' literacy. For more information, visit the Books
Behind Bars web site
or contact the director of community resources at any California prison to arrange
a book donation. You may also
contact Jan Stutter, Head Librarian for California Prisons, at
(916) 324-4615.
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
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.
The Asia
Foundation's Books for Asia Program
Books for Asia has distributed
more than 36 million books in over 40 countries throughout Asia.
Books for Asia accepts used books from public schools, provided they meet pre-established
criteria. Donations are evaluated for condition and content and are
processed on a first-in, first-out basis from their San Francisco
warehouse. For more information, see their web site
or contact a representative at:
80 Elmira Street
San Francisco, CA 94124
E-mail: booksforasia@asiafound.org
Phone: (415) 656-8990
Book Aid
International
This British organization works in partnership with organizations in
developing countries to support local initiatives in literacy, education,
training, and publishing. Ranfurly Library Service of New York is the U.S. branch, which is also
affiliated with Rotary International. To obtain more information on what types of books they accept,
visit the Book Aid International web site or contact them at (914) 473-1652.
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
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.
Alameda County Waste Management Authority, Source Reduction and
Recycling Board
The authority provides a list
of recyclable materials, including books, that links to a list of
companies in Alameda County that recycle them. For more information on
recycling used textbooks, visit them on line at http://www.stopwaste.org
or call the Alameda County Recycling Hotline toll-free at
1-877-STOPWASTE (786-7927)
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: Taormina
Industries
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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Office of Education and the Environment http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Schools/
Contact: EEI@calepa.ca.gov (916) 341-6769