We were delighted to receive a visit this morning from John Swinney, Deputy First Minister of Scotland. The Scottish Government elections are coming up and he popped in on the election campaign trail with Shirley-Anne Somerville after hearing about the good work we do here at Better World Books.

We took John on a tour of our warehouse to learn about the Journey of the Book, from arriving at our dock all the way through to being packaged up and sent out to a new home. It was a great opportunity for us to ask him questions and for him to learn about our award-winning Circular Economy model, our upcoming Literacy Grants, and our book donations programme amongst other things!

We’re really passionate about books, literacy and sustainability so it was great to hear that John believes that “Every child deserves the chance to succeed in school and to develop a love of learning.”

Out of 1.4million books John spots a fascinating book on the 1992 election

Shirley-Anne Somerville, SNP Candidate for Dunfermline said, “Better World Books is a fantastic, socially-responsible business based in Dunfermline that saves books from landfill and invests in literacy programmes…There is a strong relationship between reading for pleasure and achievement at school.”

We love to show visitors around our warehouse here in Dunfermline. It gives us a real buzz to see people’s reactions to 1.4million preloved books, and to share with them the impact that we are making in local communities through our literacy funding and book donations. We want to fund more literacy projects and donate more books, so please do get in touch with us for further information. Together, we can make a difference, one book at a time.

If you would like to find out more, or if your school, library, charity or organisation could benefit from literacy funding or book donations please email [email protected].

We welcome leaders from all political parties, or any interested organisation to visit us and learn about how together we can make a difference one book at a time!

Mairi talks to John and Shirley-Anne about our book donations programme.

This post was written by Mairi McManus, Managing Director UK, Better World Books