Better world books

In 2001, shortly after graduating from the University of Notre Dame , graduates Christopher Fuchs, Xavier Helgesen and Jeff Kurtzman sold their textbooks on the Internet. Then they came up with the idea of ​​reselling used books, which later took shape in a business plan. In 2002, Fuchs and Helgesen, with the support of the Robinson Community Learning Center, managed to sell 2,000 books, receiving $ 20,000 for them ^{[7] [8] [9]} . Half of the proceeds went to support the literacy of the community center ^[1] .

In 2003, three former students presented their online store business plan at a competition organized by the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at the College of Business at the University of Notre Dame. They won the competition and received a grant of $ 7,000 ^[8] . In April 2008, venture capital in the amount of $ 4.5 million was invested in Better World Books from Good Capital, LLC and 18 private investors ^[10] . In the same year, the company opened a representative office in Scotland, and the British version of the site earned two years later ^{[11] [12] [13] [14] [15]} .

Better World Books is widely criticized for making money out of selflessly donated books. To this, the company replies that it is commercial and uses a model of social entrepreneurship , thereby not deceiving anyone when it sells books ^[16] . One independent book dealer criticized the company for the lack of "fundamental second-hand book literacy", and also pointed out the incredibly high salaries of top managers ^[17] .

Better World Books transfers part of the funds from the sold books to Feed the Children and Books for Africa , or books are sent directly to these organizations ^{[18] [19]} . Better World Books, to one degree or another, provides support for the following non-profit organizations:

• Books for Africa is an organization that collects books and sends them to African children ^[1] .
• National Center for Family Literacy is an organization that helps educate American children from poor families ^{[1] [20]} .
• Room to Read - an organization that builds libraries and schools and provides scholarships in poor areas of the world, including in Southeast Asia ^{[1] [21]} . Room to Read also publishes children's books in several languages ^[21] .
• Worldfund is an organization with the goal of improving English skills in Latin America ^{[1] [22]} .
• The Prison Book Project is a non-profit organization that sends prisoners books and legal information ^{[23] [24]} .
• Robinson Community Center is a community center at the University of Notre Dame providing educational services to South Bend , Indiana ^[25] .
• National Literacy Trust is an independent English philanthropic organization that promotes literacy ^{[13] [14] [15]} .
• READ International is a charitable organization whose goal is to give children access to education in East Africa by sending books there that are no longer needed by high school students in the UK ^{[13] [14] [15]} .
• The National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA) is an independent Irish charitable organization that strives for the rights of people with developmental delays and for providing these people with full educational services ^{[13] [14] [15]} .