The International Book Project

The International Book Project (IBP) was started in Lexington by the late Harriet Drury Van Meter in 1966 to respond to the dire need for educational reading materials throughout the developing world. The Project has grown steadily over the years.

Today, the IBP processes requests for books from organizations around the world, accepts donations of books (mostly excess new books from publishers), matches books to requests, raises money to pay for mailing the books, and ships the books.

In a typical week, the IBP ships about 1000 pounds of books to about 25 locations. It needs to raise about $150,000 a year to support the project. A typical mailing bag holds about 50 pounds of books (about 25 books) and shipping costs are cost about $2 a pound. Already in1998, the IBP has sent more than 60,000 books to over 1200 locations in more that 100 countries.

A big part of IBP's tradition and mission is the success it enjoys in reaching even the most remote locations of the world. Those who live and work in small, isolated areas don't have the resources to retrieve a large shipment at a major port city and transport it back to their home. That's why IBP's small targeted shipments (15 - 50 pounds) have been able to meet so many needs worldwide.

In earlier years, donors provided thousands of books to send overseas, and millions of people across the globe have advanced their education through books from the IBP. But now the warehouse is full and the IBP no longer receives book donations. The need now is for funding the shipping costs to take advantage of the offers of new books donated by publishers. (If donors wish to ship their own surplus books directly from their homes to a foreign location, the IBP will try to match the donors with recipients.)

Fostering global friendships is a large part of IBP's mission. When recipients receive books, they are encouraged to write to the American donor who helped make that shipment possible. IBP donor Mrs. Roif Hovey (Maryland) shares this letter of appreciation from Josephine Underhill, U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer to Micronesia:

"I am a Peace Corps Volunteer in Micronesia, stationed in Woleai, a very small atoll in the central Pacific Ocean. Our islands are 375 miles from the main island of Yap. As a result of the complete isolation, the students in our modest school have little or no means of obtaining books. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the generous shipment of books that my island received. these books will help us as teachers to find new resources and encourage the students to enhance their reading skills.

The school has 25 students and 6 classrooms. I work with four other teachers and two culture teachers. Woleai is an atoll that is made up of about 15 islands, five of which are inhabited, located seven degrees from the equator. I live on Tegailap, the smallest of the islands with 0.9 square miles of land. The culture is very traditional. The women of these islands still wear the woven lava-lavas and the men wear cloth thoos (loincloths). The language is Woleaian, but we teach in English. Thank you again for the wonderful books. We really need them to improve the education of our students."