The changing worldwide political climate has created opportunities for ASA members and others who wish to ship books to institutions in developing countries and the newly emerging democracies in Eastern Europe. There is a serious shortage of sociological text books and academic journals in these regions and book donations can support sociologists as they attempt to build strong departments.

Generally, books are sent through private foundations. These foundations are concerned that books be "classics" in the field or recent editions of newer books; that periodical sequences be complete (e.g., ASR, 1945-65, 1978-1990), rather than broken, arbitrary runs; and that equitable distribution of the books will occur in the recipient country.

Books accepted for donation will be used for many years and often serve as "goodwill ambassadors" from the United States. For that reason, only books of the highest caliber are sent. Because transportation costs are so high, it is better to discard questionable material or to contact the agency prior to shipping your books.

A brief description of each agency and the agency specific procedures for donations follow below.

BOOKS FOR AFRICA
Contact: Dr. Robert J. Kowalczyk
253 East 4th Street Suite 200
St. Paul, MN 55101
Phone: (651) 602-9844
Fax: (651) 602-9848
E-mail: info@booksforafrica.org
Web: www.booksforafrica.org/index.html

Books For Africa was established in 1988 as a nonprofit organization whose goal is to eliminate the book famine in Africa. To fulfill this mission Books For Africa collects new and used text and library books for shipment to a growing list of English-speaking countries across the African continent.

Donation Procedures:
Three major criteria are used to select books: physical condition, age, and content.

PHYSICAL CONDITION
Books should be new or barely used, complete and durable hardcover books.

AGE
EDUCATIONAL TEXTBOOKS, especially in the fields of medicine, science, social science, and the humanities should be current or no older than eight years. Any text published before 1985 will not be used.

CONTENT
If a book has passed the previous two criteria, the content is examined. In evaluating the content, one should pay attention to the following:

 

Ethnocentrism - Many early history and geography textbooks, as well as books in the social sciences and anthropology reflect a European point of view that could easily perpetuate stereotypes about the "Third World".

Religion - Books that propagate the views of a particular religion and would be used for evangelization purposes are not acceptable. However, books on comparative religion or on the history and philosophy of different religions are appropriate.

Images of the Developing World - Images of developing countries used in North American and European textbooks often perpetuate outdated stereotypes. Before donating, books should be evaluated for the following:

 

• negative portrayal and perception of people in developing countries.
• accuracy in the text and illustrations
• oversimplification and distortions

MAGAZINES - BFA accepts National Geographic magazines published after 1985.

LIST OF NEEDED MATERIALS:

Some of the needs in the POST-SECONDARY/UNIVERSITY area are:

Sociology - History of Sociology, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Sociology of Science, Economic Sociology, Communications Theory, Epistemology.

Statistics - Statistical Methods for the Social Sciences, Computer Data Analysis, Research Methodology.

General Education - Administration, Curriculum, Guidance, Measurements, Methods, Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology.

Although not included in the above list, the following are always in great demand:

1. Encyclopedias - most recent edition
2. Dictionaries
3. Teaching Aids
4. Educational Posters

For further information please contact Dr. Kowalczyk at the number listed above.

BOOKS FOR INTERNATIONAL GOODWILL (B.I.G.)
Contact Person: Steve Frantzich
Parole Rotary Club
PO Box 6327
Annapolis, MD 21401-6327
Phone: (410) 293-6895
E-mail: frantzic@usna.edu
Web: www.big-books.org/

Through donations from individuals, bookstores, school systems, and libraries, the club has acquired over one million books. Club members and friends volunteer two Saturdays a month to sort the books by categories and pack them for shipping. By combining donations from shipping companies, local Rotary funding, and Rotary International matching grants, over 1.3 million books have been shipped to Africa, The Middle East, Eastern Europe, and other areas of the world. Local Rotary Clubs in the receiving countries facilitate distribution through both financial and labor contribution.

BRIDGE TO ASIA
Contact: Jeff Smith, Ed.D.
665 Grant Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94108
Phone: (415) 678-2990
Fax: (414) 678-2996
E-mail: asianet@bridge.org
Web: www.bridge.org

Bridge to Asia (BTA) aids higher education in developing countries, by providing books, journals, databases, and other forms of knowledge to university libraries. It also provides research and document delivery services for scholars via the Internet.

BTA prefers used materials, donated from the libraries of academics and professionals, which it finds to be superior in information content to new books that are typical of most publishers' donations. Books and journals are needed in many fields from a single volume to entire libraries. These fields include sociology, political science, psychology, religious studies, anthropology, minority studies, and education. Not needed are materials that proselytize a religion or political view, 'lifestyle books', computer science books keyed to products, and books in foreign languages other than English.

Bridge to Asia's materials are placed in the People's Republic of China and Southeast Asia through which they reach the libraries of nearly 1000 schools.

THE BROTHER’S BROTHER FOUNDATION
Contact: Carol Taylor, Coordinator
International Educational Program
1200 Galveston Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15233-1604
Phone: (888) 232-1916 or 412-237-2333
Fax: (412) 321-3325
E-mail: mail@brothersbrother.com
Web: www.brothersbrother.org/educate.htm

The Brother's Brother Foundation is a non-profit charitable organization providing gifts in kind in cooperation with the public and private sectors. The mission of Brother’s Brother Foundation is to promote international health and education through the efficient and effective distribution and provision of donated medical, educational, agricultural, and other resources. Working with volunteers in host countries, they have sent over 8,000,000 books to schools, universities and civic organizations since 1986. Brother's Brother Foundation typically deals in very large quantities (a ton may be considered a small quantity). Donations from individuals are accepted if they fit in with an existing project, and donors are usually expected to bear the shipping costs to the U.S. warehouse. Among BBF's priorities are books dealing with WORLD HISTORY and WORLD CULTURES.

Do not send books in the following categories: - American Civics or social studies text or general library books that have specific aspects of American History such as: "Americans", "Our Nation", or similar titles.

“Our policy on used books is that they must be pre-approved by Brother's Brother before we can accept them. For used books to be considered, they must be in excellent condition (not written in, no pages missing, back and front cover attached, and no broken spines) have copyright dates less than 10 years old and on subjects not obtained through donations from publishers. If the used books meet these basic standards, I will then need to see an inventory list of the books before a final decision will be made. If we accept the books they must be boxed and if being send from outside the Pittsburgh area, must be sent at the donor's expense.”

DARIEN BOOK AID PLAN, INC
Contact: Joanne Leaman
1926 Post Road
Darien, CT 06820
Phone: (203) 655-2777
E-mail: darienbookaid@yahoo.com
Web: http://dba.darien.org/

Darien Book Aid is a non-profit, all volunteer organization that builds a foundation of peace, understanding, and friendship by distributing books that have been donated to them. They send books in response to specific requests from Peace Corps Volunteers, teachers, libraries, and schools all over the world. They also donate books to libraries, prisons, hospitals, Native American and Appalachian groups in the United States.

The most frequently requested books are:

• Children's Books - all ages
  
• Classics - and simplified classics
  
• Dictionaries (English)
  
• English Readers and Grammar
  
• Crafts & How-To Books
  
• Health
  
• Science & Mathematics
  
• Agriculture
  
• Ecology and Environment

*No books with discolored pages or highlighting.

They do not accept journals and can take only one magazine - NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC (from the last five years only).

ETHIOPIAN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL, INC.
Contact: Tori Wolan, Director of Development
901 S. Highland Street
Arlington, Virginia 22204
Phone:(703) 685-0510
Fax: (703) 685-0529
Web: www.ecdcinternational.org/

For more information about this program, supporting this program and/or donating books, contact Tori Wolan, Director of Development.

INTERNATIONAL BOOK BANK
Contact: Valerie Staats, Executive Director
International Book Bank
Post Office Box 1662
Baltimore, MD 21203
Phone: (410) 685-BOOK (2665)
Fax: (410) 362-0336
E-mail: ibbusa@internationalbookbank.org
Web: http://www.internationalbookbank.org/

We believe that becoming literate, with access to books, changes lives. The International Book Bank's mission is to increase literacy and advance education by procuring and shipping books and other educational materials to developing countries. The International Book Bank (IBB) was founded as an all-volunteer organization in Chicago, Illinois in 1987, and the first shipment of donated books went to Jamaica. In 1990, the IBB moved its operations from Chicago to Baltimore to be at an international port. Since then we have  shipped tens of millions of donated new books to libraries, literacy programs, and children's homes in developing countries in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Central and Latin America. We work directly with book publishers, who donate their excess inventory to us (pre-K through college, in English, French, or Spanish), and our book recipients select from a list we provide them so that they receive books that they want and can use. We always need high-quality, culturally sensitive children's books and we welcome donations of them in quantities of 25+. We also welcome cash donations to support our operations as well as volunteers in our Baltimore warehouse.

INTERNATIONAL BOOK PROJECT, INC.

Contact: Ken DeGilio
1440 Delaware Avenue
Lexington, KY 40505
Phone:(606) 254-6771
Email: ibp@iglu.com

The International Book Project was founded in May, 1966 by Mrs. Harriet Van Meter of Lexington, Kentucky. IBP provides books to the needy overseas in an attempt to develop international friendships. IBP sends the basic subject text books (pre-kindergarten level through graduate school), library books, National Geographic magazines, nursing and medical books and journals, and technical journals. IBP donates the books to schools, universities, hospitals, clinics, organizations, and libraries.

IBP receives its books primarily from publishers, but also accepts books from schools, libraries, and individuals. In general, books need to be less than 10 years old and bindings sturdy enough to last 5 or more years of hard use. (All journals and medical books need to be less than 5 years old).

IBB is a non-governmental private organization with headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland. IBB was established in 1987 to procure appropriate reading materials from American publishers and to make them available to readers throughout the world. IBB ships books directly, or through other affiliated non-profit agencies, to the needy and the disadvantaged in developing countries. IBB currently does not accept book donations from individuals; they work primarily with publishers and bookstores. IBB prefers donations of books which include donations of fifty or more books per title. Moreover, as their computerized inventory and warehousing systems are geared toward very large numbers, they welcome donations of books where the number of copies per title is in the hundreds or thousands. If you are an author, you may wish to negotiate with your publisher regarding the donation of “over-runs” .

Potential donors should send a description of the books - level, number of multiple copies, etc., and the Project will send a matching recipient's address. The donor can either send the books on their own, or arrange shipment with the Project for a fee, currently $3.00 per pound of books sent.

Books currently needed:

        SOCIOLOGY: (History of Sociology, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Sociology of Science, Economic Sociology, Communications Theory, Epistemology)

STATISTICS: (Statistical Methods for the Social Sciences, Computer Data Analysis, Research Methodology)

GENERAL EDUCATION: (Administration, Curriculum, Guidance, Measurement, Methods, Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology).

INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF AFRICAN SCIENTISTS (ISAS)
Contacts: Dr. Billy Annan or Dr. Senyo Opong
P.O. Box 9209
Wilmington, DE 19809
Phone: (302) 366-5155 or (302) 774-2296
Fax: (302) 366-5236 or (302) 774-2457
Web: www.dca.net/isas/books.htm

“The donations will be made to identifiable programs, libraries or departments in needy universities, colleges and other institutions of higher learning in Africa and the Carribean.”

The materials may include:

*textbooks
*professional journals
*computer hardware and software on any platform (IBM-compatible, Mac, Unix)
*audio-visual equipment (VCRs, televisions, slide projectors, carousels, slide previewers, overhead projectors, etc) and any paraphenalia associated with such items
*laboratory equipment

NEW SCHOOL UNIVERSITY – JOURNAL DONATION PROJECT
Contact: Arien Mack, Director
65 Fifth Avenue, Rm 416
New York, NY 10003
Phone: (212) 229-1041
Fax: (212) 229-5476
Web: www.newschool.edu/gf/centers/programs.htm#jdp

The guiding idea of the JDP is that a reliable flow of current information along with access to archival and historical records are essential for any research or teaching of current relevance to take place. Its focus has been on creating the best contemporary scholarly resources at the libraries receiving support. To that end, JDP has been providing libraries with current subscriptions to core disciplinary journals as well as with extended, largely uninterrupted back volume sets. Donation program to Nigeria began in 2002.

NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES OFFICE
Embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
1333 16th Street NW
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: (202) 986-8400
Fax: (202) 775-1385

The Nigerian Universities Office includes in its responsibilities the coordination of donation of books and research/teaching equipment from American and Canadian universities to Nigerian universities. Many Nigerian universities maintain accounts with the office to cover shipping costs. Shipping arrangements for those institutions without accounts can sometimes be worked out.

PROJECT HOPE
International Headquarters
255 Carter Hall Lane
Millwood, VA 22646
Phone: (540) 837-2100
Fax: (540) 837-1813
E-mail: webmaster@projecthope.org
Web: www.projecthope.org

Project Hope has and international textbook distribution program to institutions in the Third World. This organization distributes large amounts medical books.

ROTARY INTERNATIONAL
Contact: Susan Schneider
International Services Section
1560 Sherman Ave
Evanston, IL 60201-2698
Phone: (847) 866-3301
Fax: (847) 328-8554
Web: www.rotary.org/programs/wcs/din/information.html

Rotary International's World Community Service provides information on Donations-in-Kind Network (DIN) to individual Rotary clubs worldwide. See the website above for a 56 page Resource Guide listing relevant organizations.

SABRE FOUNDATION, INC.
Scientific Assistance Project
872 Massachusetts Ave., Suite 2-1
Cambridge, MA 02139
Phone:(617) 868-3510

E-mail: colin@sabre.org
Sabre Foundation, Inc., is a tax-exempt charitable organization and a registered Private Voluntary Organization with the U.S. Agency for International Development. Sabre's Scientific Assistance Project specializes in providing post-secondary educational and professional materials to individuals and institutions in Eastern Europe, the countries of the former Soviet Union, and East Africa. Sabre accepts donations from private libraries, relevant journal runs, and bulk donations from publishers. Donation of scientific, medical or technical materials must have publication date within the last 5-7 years.

DONATION PROCEDURES:
Donors should send a list of materials available, including: author, title, date of publication and quantity available. A catalogue describing the materials, if available, is helpful. After approval of donation, Sabre Foundation will provide a warehouse address for delivery of materials via truck or UPS.

Donor will send materials with accompanying packing list to the warehouse for shipment abroad. In special cases, Sabre can assist with transportation costs.

*Sabre Foundation regrets that it cannot accept materials that are marked, underlined, or highlighted.

THE RUSSIAN-AMERICAN CENTER
2670 Leavenworth Street
San Francisco, CA 94133
Tel: (415) 563-4731
Fax: (415) 563-1566
Email: trac@dnai.com

The Russian-American Center has been facilitating conferences and coordinating humanitarian projects with Russia for eighteen years. The Center's goal is to help build a healthier, less volatile Russian society by providing information to build an effective system of social services.

The Center is currently collecting any psychology or social science related books, journals or videos for the Viatcheslav Loutchkov Psychology Library at Moscow State University. This new library is being built with used and donated books in English and/or Russian. These books will benefit professionals and students in training.

SUDAN-AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATION (SAFE)

Dr. Edith H. Grotberg
4141 N. Henderson Road
Suite 1205
Arlington, VA 22203
Tel: 703. 525. 9045
Fax: 703. 351. 0782
Email: grotberg@verizon.net

Dr. Lee G. Burchinal
Tel: 703. 525. 9045
Fax: 703. 351. 0782
Email: lee.burchinal@verizon.net

Universities in Sudan desperately need recent American textbooks and reference works for use by faculty and students. You can help by donating books you no longer use: The Sudan-American Foundation for Education (SAFE), is a nonprofit organization in Arlington, VA, will ship them to Sudan for distribution among university libraries there.

For further information, visit their website at: http://www.sudan-safe.org or the site for their partner in Sudan, The Ahfad University for Women at www.ahfad.org. Ahfad receives shipments and arranges for distribution of donated books among 25 Sudanese libraries.

THE WORLD LIBRARY PARTNERSHIP, INC.
3101 Guess Road, Suite D
Durham, NC 27705
Phone: (919) 479-0163
Fax: (919) 479-2033
Email: wlp@worldlibraries.org
Web: http://worldlibraries.org

Text books not older than 10 years with up-to-date content are welcomed.

This program connects libraries in developing countries with partner libraries in the United States. Through cultural exchange projects, library partnerships bring communities together. Through fundraisers, they provide some of the world's most impoverished libraries with desperately needed funds for books and supplies. Please see the partnership guidelines for more information about how the program works. To find out if your library is eligible, request an application or find out more about existing partnerships and partnership opportunities.