When books are donated en masse to large organizations they are often discarded or damaged. We collect these at-risk books, sort them, and create targeted donation boxes. Once processed, these donation boxes are delivered or shipped by Bookchurch volunteers to non-profits, educational facilities, and more!
A wonderful interview with publishing consultant, philanthropist, independent publisher, and entrepreneur, Louis Force Torres, courtesy of Author Interviews with Matt Struven.
For the Bookchurch segment skip to 39:35 or click here.
Louis Force Torres is a publisher and avid reader. He discovered a lot of wasted books during his 7-years in the Publishing industry, and founded Bookchurch to help reduce book waste. He serves as the CEO for the Bookchurch Board of Directors.
Amy Plesetz is a biologist and business owner. She works to create awareness about environmental issues, including
the effects of pollution, animal rights, and preserving wild spaces. Amy serves on the Bookchurch Board of Directors.
Tenley Force is an Author and Nurse, and has volunteered her time with Covid relief organizations during the height of the pandemic. She also traveled to the Ukraine to work in a temporary medical facility during the war. Tenley serves on the Bookchurch Board as Chairperson.
Guy Galzerano is a business owner, stone mason, and environmental activist. His books explore themes about environmentalism,the impact of human civilization on the planet, and what to do about it. Guy serves on the Board of Directors as the Chief Financial Officer.
Steve Larios is a linguistics expert with a heavy focus on cyrllic languages. After time spent in the military he moved to Carpinteria with his wife Tatiana. He was impressed with the idea of more streamlined book donations, and is happy to volunteer with "such a positive organization."
Amber Kaplan is a mother, scientist, and bibliophile, who hails from Alaska and calls Carpinteria her home. She is currently a consulting scientist and MBA student at USC. Amber currently serves on the board of the MOXI Museum as well as the library committee of The California Club.
In a partnership with Discover books, Bookchurch is working to develop an expansion project that will allow more warehouse space, donation locations, and engagement with even more local non-profits. A recent interview of Bookchurch board members in the Coastal View News elaborates a bit on the current vision of the organization.
Karsen Gould, the Creative/Executive Director of Arts for Humanity reached out to partner with Bookchurch.org with a nice book donation. Their program 'Have You Had Your Art Today' is a great way to schedule art-focused, virtual projects. Additional art focused books have been donated to Roxanne's in Carpinteria.
Bookchurch partnered with Apples to Zucchini, a non-profit cooking school in Santa Barbara to begin donating cook books, chef biographies and memoirs, and wine related material at the beginning of 2023. This is an area of waste in a lot of donation boxes, but when given to an organization with people passionate about food, new chefs and continuing education participants can get access to the material!
Several stores have asked to donate their overstock, and Bookchurch is more than happy to assist in the removal and recycling of books. This has led to a solid inventory for the start of 2023. As we expand our network to include a non-profit cooking school we are now going to be supplying cookbooks and reference material to them in an effort to get the right books into the right hands.
With a successful partnership with Seattle-based Books to Prisoners, Bookchurch was able to double the amount of books sent during the holiday season. We feel that holidays can be a lonely time, and books are known to fix that - we hope that they are a positive force for those incarcerated seeking self improvement.
Several weeks before Hispanic Heritage month, Bookchurch connected with Empowering Latino Futures, an organization heavily invested in promoting literacy and creativity in the Latino community.
Bookchurch will be working with ELF in the future to assist in focused donations that will help fill the needs of the organization.
Bookchurch reached out to Planned Parenthood Santa Barbara to donate to the Mary Jane McCord book sale. (9/15 - 9/25) Book donations were so high this year that they couldn't accept any more physical books. We
decided to sponsor a table instead making a monetary donation to Planned Parenthood.
Bookchurch and Polyverse took a trip to Seattle this last summer to visit bookstores and literary locations.
During a trip to Left Bank Books in Pike's Market, Bookchurch founder, Louis Force Torres was introduced to the book donation program Books to Prisoners.
If you love comics, or your children do, Free Comic Book Day is a big deal. Many comic shops celebrate this chance to bring free comics to young readers. In July, Bookchurch donated a collection of comics to Dream World Collectibles in Santa Barbara to help support children's readership.
In June, Louis Torres journeyed to North Carolina to donate copies of Amad the Moroccan Tree Goat, to the Appalachian Regional Library system in Watauga County, specifically for their children's reading events, where they often bring live animals to meet the kids!
Goleta based group, WYF brings children out into nature to teach them about plants and animals in Santa Barbara County. Bookchurch reached out with a donation of animal based Kid's Books and is preparing another donation of Naturalist and Field guides specifically for Santa Barbara and surrounding regions.
The friends of the Carpinteria Library Bookstore accepts book donations to help fund the local branch of the library. Bookchurch has made repeated donations to their store - and plans to continue!
The small free-library boxes are wonderful for communities. Bookchurch works with Polyverse Publications to browse collections and then return with titles to fill space, or round out missing subjects or genres.
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