International Book Project reaches people
worldwide, makes local impact through work

Encouraging children to read and value books in the United States can be struggle nowadays. But in many countries around the world, books are considered a luxury and a treasure.

One Lexington organization works internationally to bring these treasured possessions to people worldwide who have limited access to books.

The International Book project has been delivering books to people in need for more than four decades. They provide one shipment of books per year to each of their more than 260 international partners. These partners are located in more than 40 developing countries and receive a combined 150,000 books, or more, each year.

The nonprofit organization was founded in 1966 after Harriet Van Meter visited India, where she saw a line of people waiting for books. When she returned to Lexington, she wrote a letter that was published in the newspaper of the community she visited in India, letting the people there know to contact her if they needed books.

“Basically, she got a flood of letters in and she started answering letters and sending books. She got people involved, her friends and community members,” said Tracy Taylor, director of the International Book Project. “She actually stored the books in her basement for the first ten, twenty years of the project.”

Though the organization has grown and evolved since 1966, Van Meter’s “heart and compassion is prevalent everywhere in this organization, even in the building,” Taylor said. The organization remains true to Van Meter’s original mission – to provide books to the smallest groups and organizations, she said.

“We carry that on by still sending our standard small shipments,” Taylor said. The books sent range from children’s books to multiple-copy text book sets to use as teaching materials, she said.

These shipments are able to reach “anywhere is the world. It can go to the most remote areas because it is so small. It can be thrown on the back of a bike or a canoe,” Taylor said.

Though the organization tries to meet as many book requests as possible, there are some requirements groups or communities need to meet to receive books.

Taylor looks to see “that they have some sort of plan to let me know that they are equally invested in education and literacy, and that this isn’t just a one-sided transaction,” she said. “It’s important to know that they’re going to make good use and that they’re a sustainable organization, responsible, and that the books are open to everyone.”

The organization moved from Van Meter’s basement to their warehouse on Delaware Street in the early 1980s, where it is still located today. The warehouse, along with an additional space donated by Young Storage on Palumbo Drive, allows the International Book Project to organize and send palette size shipments and as sea containers in addition to the smaller shipments.

In December alone, the organization sent sea container shipments to Zimbabwe, Vietnam, Uganda and Mozambique.

Last year, the International Book Project started a capital campaign to renovate their main warehouse for the first time since the organization moved into the building and have raised $48,000 of their $56,000 goal, Taylor said.

The renovations include a climate controlled front area in the warehouse where volunteers can work and a new area for the book store, which is open to the public, Taylor said. Books for sale in the store cost between $.50 and $2 and the organization does a half price sale once a year as well, she said.

“It’s going to be good for community outreach and very welcoming in general. So, we’re very excited about it,” Taylor said of the renovations. “Also, with it being a little bit of a nicer bookstore, it will be more welcoming.”

Local Ties

The book store is one way that the International Book Project reaches out to the Lexington community, but at the beginning of the year, the organization wanted to further connect locally and joined forces with Lexington’s Habitat for Humanity.

The International Book Project has provided all 15 Habitat Houses built this year with a new bookshelf filled with books, specific to each family.

“One of the things that made this partnership very unique is they took the time to learn about the families,” said Dana Stefaniak, resource development director at Habitat for Humanity. The people at the International Book Project learned the children’s ages, genders and geared the books towards their interests, Stefaniak said.

“It was really quite a delight to see the children going though the bookcase…they just lit up,” Stefaniak said. “It’s like Christmas, the children in most instances don’t know this is coming. It’s so much fun to witness the look on their face when they see that that’s for them.”

One family that received a book shelf through Habitat has developed a continuing relationship with the International Book Project.

Pierre Ngog and his family, who are from Cameroon, received a Habitat home and their book shelf this year, and he has “become a great partner of the International Book Project,” Taylor said. Ngog has consulted with the International Book project on developing better shipping methods and helping with shipments to schools in Cameroon, Taylor said.

The International Book Project recently launched their Local Donation Program as well, in which local groups, such as after-school programs or Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops, can request books. Additionally, the program provides books to people in Eastern Kentucky through a partnership with the Whitley County Public Library and their bookmobile.

“As they go out to check books out to people, they’re also going to give books away, and they’re books from us,” Taylor said.

The International Book Project welcomes volunteers and always accepts book donations, which can be dropped off or sent to their warehouse at 1440 Delaware Avenue, Lexington, KY 40505. Visit www.intlbookproject.org for more information or to donate to the organization.