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Our Mass school library list had a discussion about donating books overseas and the following letter was posted. World Library Partnership Inform the World Program Book Donation Think Twice Before you Donate Books Have you ever stared at a pile of old school books and wondered if someone, somewhere could use them? If so, the thought may have crossed your mind to send them off to a developing country. Surely that would be better than throwing them away=D6 Perhaps not. My colleagues and I have first-hand experience with the problems caused by book donation in several countries. Here are some things to consider before you give your books to a book donation agency or ship them off to a developing country: Are there hidden costs? In many countries, the recipients of a book shipment must pay customs fees, port taxes and other charges. They must also pay to transport the books from the port of entry to their final destination. These costs can often be more than the books are worth! Are the materials in good shape? Books that are outdated, damaged and worthless here are going to be just as useless abroad. Remember that books also mold quickly when shipped by sea. Is the information useful? Rural African schools with no electricity don't need books on microwave cooking or skiing, both of which we have seen on library shelves. Are they in the right language? I know of a library in South Africa that got an entire shipment of moldy books in Czech. Are the materials culturally appropriate? Many books written for US audiences have cultural references that make no sense abroad. They may even be offensive. Romance novels, which seem to be popular donations, are distasteful at best to many Africans. In addition to all these points, it is important to consider that book donation can actually HARM school libraries. Many schools do not allocate funds for books because they hope to get them donated. If the donated books are a huge disappointment, this kills support for the library. Book donation also takes business away from indigenous booksellers and publishers. I cannot stress enough the importance of local publishing. Africa is information rich, but book poor. Without more African publishing, huge areas of knowledge will be lost. Entire languages may disappear. Every dollar spent on buying books in Africa helps to ensure that African authors will be able to publish their work in their own countries. An alternative use for your old books would be to sell them and donate the money to a program that purchases new books for schools and libraries in developing countries. The World Library Partnership runs a book certificate program that enables African libraries to purchase books at the Zimbabwe International Book =46air. This gives the librarians the opportunity to choose what they purchase, thereby ensuring that the materials will match the needs and interests of library users. If enough people ask, book donation organizations may even change their policies and start purchasing some materials abroad. When you consider the costs of shipping, you can often get a lot more books for the buck by buying them in Africa. Laura Wendell Executive Director The World Library Partnership 3101 Guess Rd. Suite D Durham, NC 27705 919-479-0163 http://worldlibraries.org At 1:09 PM -0600 11/2/03, Susan Uthoff wrote: >On Tues., Oct. 28 "Hints from Heloise" was promoting a new website to >encourage people to recycle used books and keep them out of landfills. >Her webpage has links to various organizations that accept books. Since >this question comes up on the listserv from time to time, I thought I'd >pass it along. http://www.adoptalibrary.org/ > >Sarah S. Uthoff >Reference Librarian >Kirkwood Community College >Cedar Rapids, IA uthoff@infionline.net =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=- All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law. To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL 3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * Allow for confirmation. LM_NET Help & Information: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/ Archive: http://askeric.org/Virtual/Listserv_Archives/LM_NET.shtml LM_NET Select/EL-Announce: http://www.cuenet.com/archive/el-announce/ LM_NET Supporters: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/ven.html =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-