"Book Box": an initiative for donating old books (video)

Every year, hundreds of tonnes of wood around the world are used to print huge numbers of books. Sadly, every year a large share of those books is thrown away, despite their value. Many rare and valuable books are lost for good because there are no proper campaigns to collect them and pass them on as donations.

About a year ago I noticed this gap in Bulgaria and came up with the idea for the "Book Box" project. Inspired by similar campaigns in the UK, where I had spent several years of my life, I decided to put volunteer work to better use in my home town of Plovdiv, and I am determined that this project can grow and become national. With the help of JCI Plovdiv and other friends, we brought together around 10 enthusiasts who adopted the idea as their own and supported me in this initiative.

The aim of the campaign is to give people in Bulgaria a new way to donate their old books. We do this by placing large boxes (containers) in key locations in Plovdiv. Each container has a slot for dropping in a book. The donor cannot take it back out and has no access to the other books. The books collected are then distributed carefully to people and places that need them, such as libraries, community centres, schools, universities, children's homes and homes for the elderly.

The project started in March 2014 with 3 boxes in central locations in Plovdiv: the building of the Economic Library and Hackafe, Paisii Hilendarski University of Plovdiv and the Plovdiv Commercial High School. Similar initiatives have been very successful in Western Europe and the US, which means "Book Box" has great potential in Bulgaria too. The campaign aims to grow nationally. Besides placing more boxes in Plovdiv, we plan to put containers in key locations in other big Bulgarian cities.

Our expectations for the next year are far from small. More than 5,000 books should pass through the boxes and be donated or passed on to where they are needed. We also expect to find some rare copies among them whose restoration or reprinting we can encourage. Over this period, the "Book Box" campaign should become well known across the Plovdiv municipality, and the number of donors should keep growing. Despite the ambitious goals, we have collected almost 500 books so far, and the campaign keeps getting more popular.

Based on the success and experience gained in Plovdiv, the project will be taken to other places in Bulgaria. The number of boxes could realistically grow to at least 15, in Plovdiv, Sofia, Varna, Burgas and Veliko Tarnovo. As "Book Box" spreads across the country, we also plan to build a website showing the locations of the containers and more information about the initiative.

The "Book Box" initiative is supported by JCI Bulgaria, AIESEC Plovdiv, Youth Voice Plovdiv, Big Brothers Big Sisters Bulgaria, the Economic Library Plovdiv and the youth web portal Media Café.

You can read Media Café's article about "Book Box" (in Bulgarian).

You can find more information on the project's official Facebook page: www.fb.com/kutiyazaknigi

If you want to support this initiative, do not hesitate to get in touch with me, because its success depends on all of us!