Dan and Emma in Tranent

You may have read Dan and Emma’s blog back in December around the need for offering a solution to used books throughout communities in the UK. Well three months have passed since that blog and, sadly, nothing’s changed. There are still one in seven children in the UK without a book of their own at home and one in six adults living with poor literacy yet, people are still continuing to send their used books to landfill. 

Better World Books has been trying to address this in the UK since 2008. We collect pre-loved books and sell them through our website and 10 other marketplaces with every sale generating an income for literacy partners and literacy projects. For the books we can’t sell, we donate to people in need or recycle. We send NOTHING to landfill.

Our ethos is “A book has the power to inspire, educate, entertain and maybe even delight, but not everyone has access to a book the way that we do. That’s why Better World Books cares.” This ethos is key to our mission and every decision we make as a company.

To continue sharing our mission in East Lothian, we placed three more book banks in this area, adding to the growing book bank locations we have throughout the UK. See our current book bank locations here.

On Tuesday 14th March, our Logistics Specialist, Dan Shiels and Client Services Specialist, Emma Houston started their day at Better World Books’ UK Headquarters in Dunfermline where three more shiny green book banks were loaded onto a lorry before starting their journey to their new homes… 

Emma in Dunbar, Scotland’s first Zero Waste town

The first stop was the very picturesque and, on this particular day, very windy, seaside town of Dunbar where a book bank was placed at Bleachingfield Community Centre. Conveniently located between the community centre and Dunbar Primary school, the book bank is easily accessible by car or on foot. As Dunbar have been waving the flag as Scotland’s first Zero Waste Town since 2014, we’re hoping they’re going to set the standards on how easy it is divert books from landfill by donating them into the book bank they now have in their community.

The next part of the journey was placing a book bank in another of East Lothian’s coastal towns, Longniddry. Located in the car park of Longniddry Inn, donating books now gives you the perfect excuse to go for a pint!

The last leg of the journey brought us to one of Scotland’s original key coal mining towns of Tranent. Our book bank has been situated in the recycling point at the town’s Aldi supermarket meaning supporting literacy and reducing waste can be a part of your everyday routine as you can now donate your books on your way in or out from doing your shopping! 

Dan dropped some books into the book bank at Longniddry Inn.

For every book received through East Lothian’s book banks that we successfully sell, Scottish Book Trust receives funding. Since 2012 we have generated £25,000 for Scottish Book Trust through the sale of pre-loved books. This helps to support their mission to make sure that everyone in Scotland has the same opportunity to thrive through reading and writing.

We look forward to finding new homes for East Lothian’s pre-loved books and thank you in advance of your support! If by any chance you visit one of our banks to find it’s full, please email [email protected]. If you would like to find out more about how your books can support literacy, please contact Emma Houston at [email protected].