[GreenYes] the Greater Philadelphia Book Bank may need your help

[Kae Ono <kaerecycles@yahoo.com>]

Forwarded Message:
-------------------------------------------

Dear Friends of the Environment,
    My name is Joe Soler. I am writing on behalf of
the Greater
Philadelphia
Book Bank. We are a non-profit organization that
collects and 
distributes
primarily but not always used books. We have hit a
problem. We have 
saved
almost 3 million books from dumpsters and landfills
and, most 
importantly
have recycled almost 700,000 of these books back into
schools so that 
they
can be used  for their content not just their paper.
Our books come 
from
many sources but the overwhelming majority come from
the Free Library 
of
Philadelphia which is barred from throwing them out by
City Law.
    We have recently encountered a huge problem. We
are housed in a
building
that belongs to the School District of Philadelphia
and they informed 
us
that we need to empty out an entire floor that we had
been using for
storage. The books on this floor most likely total
almost 500,000 or 
more.
It is nearly impossible to estimate. We are looking
for help and ideas 
on
what to do with these books since we obviously do not
want to throw 
them
out. We need to find outlets. Ideally we want to find
organization and
people that will use these books for the common good
not just personal
profit, or selfish hoarding. But barring that, we
would love to see 
that
the
books get recycled for their paper. I am writing to
you today to ask 
for
your help and assistance. We have been given 6 weeks
to clear out 
500,000
books. When the floor is cleared we will begin again
to accumulate 
books.
Their are just millions upon millions of books out
there that can be
re-used
and we need help in seeing them into the proper hands,
in spreading the
Book
Bank idea around the country, or even just recycling
them for their 
paper
so
that we can perhaps cut down on the destruction of our
forests.
   I can be reached via email at

[Email address removed at owner's request - this post is very old]
[Phone number removed]
, or at home at
[Phone number removed]. The Book Bank telephone number is

[Phone number removed - Book Bank is closed - sorry]. Any 
help you can provide, ideas, names, contacts would be
greatly appreciated 
and
will be of great help to our 10 person volunteer
staff. Thanks again.
Sincerely,
Joe Soler