Books Abroad

Books Abroad sends educational, library and resource books for all ages to places of greatest need. New and lightly used school textbooks in all subjects, library books, atlases, dictionaries and health books are available.

Books are mainly donated by local schools and North East of Scotland Library Service Libraries. Most of the work is carried out by volunteers. They support developing countries worldwide (currently 87 countries).

Books for the Barrios

Books for the Barrios operates in the Philippines. Elementary textbooks, childrens fiction and picture books, toys and games, athletic equipment and consumable school supplies are available.

Due to the large size of shipments, individual requests cannot be honored except as part of an ongoing project to the requestors particular locale. Individuals interested in acting as coordinators for large book shipments, however, should contact Books for the Barrios. Coordinators assist in identifying appropriate recipient schools, repacking books in smaller lots and organizing distribution. Coordinators can identify shipment sponsors among local government officials and civic leaders. The program is eligible for available countrywide development fund support.

Bridge to Asia

Bridge to Asia operates in China and Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Vietnam). New and lightly used books, journals, magazines, databases, childrens books, school books, reference books and other educational materials are available.

Bridge to Asia has only a limited ability to send materials to individuals and to organizations not part of the recipient universities distribution system. Such requests often require personal attention and special shipping procedures. Bridge to Asia can still fulfill requests from individuals, but it may be several months before the books are sent out.

Brother's Brother Foundation

The Brother's Brother Foundation is a non-profit charitable organization providing gifts in kind in cooperation with the public and private sectors. Working with volunteers in host countries, they have sent over 8,000,000 books to schools, universities and civic organizations since 1986. Brother's Brother Foundation typically deals in very large quantities (a ton may be considered a small quantity). They provide medical supplies, textbooks, food and seeds to countries all over the world.

Their Educational Program helps developing countries to build educational infrastructures by providing donated books and educational materials to Africa, South and Central America, East Europe and Asia. All donated books are screened to ensure that they are usable and relevant. Currently 15% of donations are used books and 85% are new books. Once a recipient is established, BBF makes available a book list for the recipient to select titles and quantities. On the website you will find an online application for receiving donations.

Computer Aid International

Computer Aid International is the worlds largest non-profit supplier of refurbished computers to schools and community organizations in developing countries. They test, refurbish, pack and ship donated Pentium computers from the U.K. for re-use in the non-profit sector overseas. They support libraries as long as they meet their criteria.

Tools with a Mission

TWAM collects unwanted tools from donors. These are tools that are in reasonable condition but are no longer wanted by their owners. All tools are only sent in response to specific requests. The workshop at Ipswich also deals with computers, sewing machines and knitting machines.