Better World Books (also known as Qumpus, Inc.) is an American online bookseller of used and new books, founded in 2002 by students of the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

, Indiana. Better World Books' used book inventory comes primarily from regular book drives at over 1,800 colleges and universities and donations from over 3,000 library systems, in addition to donation boxes found on corners and on college campuses. The company has distribution warehouses in

Mishawaka, Indiana Mishawaka is a city on the St. Joseph River, in Penn Township, St. Joseph County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 51,063 as of the 2020 census. Its nickname is "the Princess City". Mishawaka is a principal city of the South ...

;

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

;

York, Pennsylvania York ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Yarrick''), known as the White Rose City (after the symbol of the House of York), is the county seat of York County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the south-central region of the state. The populati ...

; and

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

History

In 2001, shortly after their graduation from the

, Better World Books founders Christopher Fuchs, Xavier Helgesen and Jeff Kurtzman sold their used college textbooks online. The three then formulated a business plan using their experience selling books online. In 2002, Fuchs and Helgesen held a book drive benefiting the Robinson Community Learning Center in

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 United S ...

. During the drive, they collected and sold 2,000 books, which raised $10,000. Half of the drive's proceeds went to support literacy initiatives at the community center. In 2003, the three entered their business plan into the Notre Dame Social Venture Business Plan Competition, which was sponsored by the Gigot Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of Notre Dame's

Mendoza College of Business The Mendoza College of Business is the business school at the University of Notre Dame, a private university in Notre Dame, Indiana. Founded in 1921, it offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees. It is ranked among the top 30 business scho ...

. They won the competition, with a grand prize of $7,000 and mentorship from entrepreneur David Murphy. Murphy served as Better World Books president and CEO from 2004 to 2011, before leaving to direct Notre Dame's Master of Entrepreneurship program (ESTEEM). Betterworldbooksjpg

Better World Books acquired a US Small Business Administration-backed credit line in 2004. In April 2008, Better World Books secured an additional $4.5 million in

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...

via Good Capital, LLC and 18 private investors. In 2008, the company opened an operation in Dunfermline, Scotland, and started a UK website in 2010. In 2016, the company opened a new distribution center in Reno, Nevada, creating 150 new jobs. The non-profit

B Lab B, or b, is the second letter of the Latin-script alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''bee'' (pronounced ), plural ''bees''. It rep ...

has certified "Better World Books" as a "

B corporation In the United States, a benefit corporation (or in several jurisdictions including Delaware, a public-benefit corporation or PBC) is a type of for-profit corporate entity, authorized by 35 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, that include ...

", meaning it meets certain standards for social welfare, because it donates books or a percentage of its profit to literacy programs around the world. As of 2013, the company had donated an estimated $14 million under this program. In March 2019, Better World Books announced the closure of their last retail location in Goshen, Indiana. The decision has been made in order for the organisation to improve its e-commerce operations and reach more people. The company discloses information about funds raised, books re-used or recycled, and books donated in a ticker on its "Impact" page. As of 2019, Better World Books handles about 30 million incoming books per year, of which 10 gets sold and 10 donated to partners. On November 6, 2019, Better World Books was acquired by Better World Libraries, a mission-aligned, not-for-profit organization that is affiliated with longtime partner, the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

. The plan is to digitize many more books and put them online. Between July 2019 and March 2020, Better World Books donated over 700,000 books (counted by distinct

ISBN The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier that is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency. An ISBN is assigned to each separate edition and ...

) to the Internet Archive. Over 1.4 million books were donated in 2020 and nearly a million in the first half of 2021.

Partners

Better World Books donates one book to

Feed the Children Feed the Children, established in 1979 and headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is a non-profit organization focused on alleviating childhood hunger. Its mission is "providing hope and resources for those without life's essentials." The organ ...

, Books for Africa, or smaller donation recipients for each book sold on BetterWorldBooks.com. Better World Books provides additional support to literacy non-profits, including: * Books for Africa – which collects, ships and distributes books to African children. * The National Center for Family Literacy – which provides educational opportunities and literacy programs to at-risk children and families. *

Room to Read Room to Read is a global non-profit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California. The organization focuses on working in collaboration with local communities, partner organizations and governments to improve literacy and gender equalit ...

– which builds libraries and schools and provides scholarships in impoverished areas of the world, including Southeast Asia. Room to Read also publishes books for children in multiple languages. * Worldfund – which provides resources to improve English-language skills in Latin America. * Prison Book Project – a

Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a coastal U.S. city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county and a part of Greater Boston, Metropolitan Boston as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in 2020 was 1 ...

-based nonprofit, which provides inmates with books and legal resources. * Robinson Community Center – a

-affiliated community center, which provides educational opportunities and tutoring services in

. *

National Literacy Trust The National Literacy Trust is an independent charity (registered no. 1116260 in England and Wales and registered no. SCO42944 in Scotland) based in London, England, that promotes literacy. It was founded by Sir Simon Hornby, former chairman of th ...

– an independent charity based in London, England, that promotes literacy. *

READ International READ Tanzania is a charity (NGO), formerly known as READ International that aims to improve access to education in East Africa by renovating school libraries and providing educational materials. READ began as a United Kingdom-based charity but h ...

– a charity that aims to improve access to education in East Africa by relocating books which are no longer needed in UK secondary schools to Tanzania. * The National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA) – an independent Irish charity which is committed to making sure people with literacy and numeracy difficulties can fully take part in society and have access to learning opportunities that meet their needs. *

– The Internet Archive and Better World Books announced a new partnership in November, 2019, to digitize books for preservation purposes."For the Love of Literacy: Better World Books and the Internet Archive Unite to Preserve Millions of Books"
Press release, Nov. 6, 2019.

References

External links

* {{official Bookstores of the United States Book selling websites Independent bookstores of the United States Online retailers of the United States Antiquarian booksellers Social enterprises Companies based in Indiana American companies established in 2002 Retail companies established in 2002 Bookstores established in the 21st century B Lab-certified corporations

History

Partners

See also

References

External links