Journal and Book Donations

To support the study of political science internationally, APSA annually provides dozens of donated subscriptions to its journals, American Political Science Review, Perspectives on Politics and PS: Political Science and Politics.

The Association works directly with Cambridge University Press to provide heavily discounted journals to institutions in 39 developing countries through the Journal Donation Project (JDP), and free online access to another 12 needy institutions via packaged national licenses. Click here to download the official JDP brochure.

View a List of Past Donation Recipients

APSA members are encouraged to join the Association in contributing the growth of the discipline by donating to institutions overseas. While the Association is not able to direclty facilitate the donations of individual members to specific institutions, we have worked with a number of organizations that are willing to help.

WHERE TO START

Before you contact any organization about donating materials you should make an assessment of what you have in your possession. Creating an account on paper is the best method, noting any missing issues from your collection. Once you have a list of journal or books, sort them into boxes, labeling which boxes contain what. Your roster of books will also be necessary for tax purposes if you mean to report your donation to the IRS. APSA has prepared a pricing index of its journals to assist members. APSA also recommends that members contact a qualified tax professional with regards to issues of journal donations for tax deduction purposes.

FINDING A HOME FOR YOUR MATERIALS

The APSA recommends that you contact one of the organizations below to discuss your options. You can also find related information in the following detailed directories of book donation programs:

Directories:

The World Library Partnership Resource Database
The Directory of Book Donation Programs (Compiled by the African Studies Association and the Africana Studies Librarians Book Donation Committee)
The Directory of Book, Journal, and Media Donation Programs (Compiled by the SUNY Buffalo Health Science Library)

Programs:

Books for Freedom (Afghanistan)

Books for Africa
253 East 4th Street
Saint Paul, MN 55101 USA
Books For Africa (BFA) is a Minnesota based non-profit organization whose mission is to eliminate the book famine in Africa." "BFA does not send books to individual schools and/or libraries. Books, 25,000 per container, are sent to indigenous NGO organizations in Africa who distribute books to schools and libraries in their respective African countries. BFA serves South Africa through a partnership with the Sandy Springs Rotary Club in Atlanta, Georgia." Has copies of their Newsletters. Doners need to fill a minimum of a 20 ft. sea container of books. The port to port ocean freight costs about $1,500 and BFA only pays half.

Books for Asia
booksforasia@asiafound.org
The Asia Foundation's Books for Asia program has been providing books, software, and other educational materials throughout Asia for almost half a century.

Bridge to Asia
450 Mission Street #407
San Francisco, CA 94105
Phone: (415) 356-9040

Journal Donation Project
New School for Social Research
65 Fifth Avenue, Room 425
New York, NY 10003
Phone: (212) 229-5789

International Book Bank
Post Office Box 1662
Baltimore, MD 21203
Tel: 410-685-BOOK (2665)
E-mail: info@internationalbookbank.org

The International Book Bank (IBB) helps increase literacy and advance education by procuring and shipping books and other educational materials to developing countries. Founded in 1987, the IBB distributes books and educational materials to non-governmental and not-for-profit organizations, such as community reading rooms and libraries. in almost 100 developing countries around the world.

Sabre Foundation
872 Massachusetts Avenue., Suite 2-1
Cambridge, MA 02139 U.S.A.
The Sabre Foundation, founded in 1969, distributes new books and other educational materials to support education, private sector growth, research and higher learning in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Africa and select other regions of the world.

Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation
2247 W. Chicago Avenue
Chicago, IL 60622
Phone: 773-235-8462

US Ukraine Foundation "Books for Libraries Project"
733 15th Street NW, Suite 1026
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202) 347-4264
Fax: (202) 347-4267

World Bank Volunteer Services Book Project
601 19th Street NW,
Room H2 - 200
Washington DC 20433
Phone: (202) 473-8960
Fax: (202) 522-0301
wproject@worldbank.org
Collects and ships books to countries in Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe. Accepts donations in good condition. Texts no more than 10 yrs old. Journals no more than 5.

For more information, please contact Bahram Rajaee, Director of International and External Relations.