BookBgone Redistributes Books by the Ton

Six months into bookBgone, Lois Cantwell and Andrea Hirschfeld have made hundreds of pickups, processed close to 35,000 volumes (about 16.5 tons of books!) and received recognition, support and thanks from recipients all over the U.S., local press and, most recently, from Governor Chris Christie.

"When we developed the ‘bookBgone’ concept in June 2011, the general notion was to help people who no longer wanted or needed their books get them into the hands of those who did," explain the two. Their enterprise is simple in concept: bookBgone is a free-of-charge, media-removal service that is dedicated to recycling, reusing and donating unwanted books. The women pick up books, CDs, and DVDS in any condition curbside from your home. They distribute them to those in need, including food banks in New Jersey, New York and Maine; schools and after-school programs in New York, New Jersey, Kentucky and Missouri; Community Centers in Oregon and New Jersey; and the Pritzker War Library in Illinois.

BookBgone has also picked up books from individuals all over New Jersey from Jackson to Montville to Ramsey; and has helped local community centers, houses of worship, libraries and schools to place overstocked, withdrawn or otherwise unused books with those groups who were in need of them.

Writing for Patch in July, , "We are continually looking for additional places to donate books and are especially interested in connecting with armed forces overseas so please let us know if you have any ideas or contacts. 
Building this business is fun and exciting for us. The feedback we receive from our customers is that this is an extremely needed service."

To learn more, or to share suggestions, contact bookBgone at: www.bookBgone.com or 908-912-6652 or email info@bookbgone.com.

And another option:

Great Idea!
Donate your gently used, "outgrown" children's books, and I will put them directly in the hands of schoolchildren in Orange, where I have set up a "free bookstore" inside Cleveland Elementary School. This it THE WAY to improve the reading scores of low income kids. Not more testing, reading coaches, or more billions. Not a dime, in fact. The solution is on your shelves, collecting dust! Poor kids need the books your kids have been reading at home. They need the same exposure to the world of good, bad and funny children's literature. (Magazines, too.) Give me a kid who hates to read, and I'll give him a Ripley's Believe it or Not! He'll come back, begging for more!
I have set up free "bookstores" at the Y and the Orange Public Library, and both are open, but bringing the books directly into the schools is the best way to get them to the kids,and this is where I am now concentrating your donations.. Children get a book whenever they need one, and all come through for books before long weekends, holidays, birthdays, etc. Access will be increased as I get more books, and I would like to expand to other schools in Orange.
Give your children's books a second life, and another chance to inspire a child!
Baby through middle school, no adult books, no text books.
Email for pick-up, or drop off anytime.
crlukoff@aol.com
321 N. Wyoming Ave
2D
South Orange
Carol Lukoff/ReRead
School Counselor, Orange Public Schools
Literacy Changes Lives! You can help!
(or to bookbgone!)