By Mario Montalvo/ne news editor
Students with old books lying around can now lighten their load while contributing to a good cause.
A NE club is helping put books in the hands of those in need and helping fund programs to promote literacy at the same time.
A program started on NE Campus by Campus Crusade for Christ collects unwanted books and donates them to Better World Books, an organization committed to keeping books out of landfills by reselling, recycling or donating them to children in developing countries.
In addition to donating, a percentage of every book sold goes toward directly funding one of Better World Books’ literacy partners, its website said.
Books for Africa is one of the many organizations that receives funding from Better World Books.
With help from Better World Books, Books For Africa sent 1.9 million books to 23 African countries in 2010.
The ongoing book drive was started last spring by former club officers, said current president Casey Willett who has taken over the project.
“It gives other people a chance to have books, so I thought it was a really good opportunity,” Willett said.
The books are collected about once every month.
Over the summer, Willett said the group collected 10 boxes of books, or about 100-120 books.
Last month, the club collected five full boxes of books for donation to Better World Books, about 50 books.
“The most common thing we’ve gotten are law books, but people have donated everything from textbooks to novels,” Willett said. “But really, the most common thing we’ve found in the boxes is trash because people keep confusing them for trash cans.”
Student development coordinator Amity Womelsdorff said she encourages all student organizations to give back to their community in some way.
“Community service is an important part of being a leader,” she said. “After all, we are a community college.”
Drop boxes are located in two locations on campus, in the cafeteria in the Student Center and in the library by the copy center.
For more information about Better World Books or its literacy partners, visit www.better worldbooks.com.
