Hundreds of used textbooks going to charity

By Leila Ugincius

As Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business faculty prepare for the move to their new building, they’re finding it’s easier to part with years of memories when those memories are going to a good cause.

R. Jon Ackley, Ed.D., associate professor of management, came up with the idea when he began the daunting task of packing up his office. A professor at VCU since 1979, he had accumulated numerous items, including old textbooks. What should he pack and what should he throw away?

Not wanting to casually discard out-of-date business textbooks, but having no real use for them, he sent an e-mail to fellow faculty suggesting they band together to donate their used books.

“As we begin to pack up our offices, many of us will decide that moving textbooks that are years old (and several editions earlier) is not the best approach,” he wrote. “Perhaps these older texts could be donated.”

Others agreed, donating close to 400 used business textbooks, said Fran Altman, public relations specialist for the School of Business.

“It wasn’t any effort for us,” Altman said. “We were cleaning out anyway for the move. And everyone participated.”

The books were given to the Virginia Book Co. on West Franklin Street, which purchases used textbooks from students, but also accepts as donations books that are no longer in use. Its optimum location in the middle of the Monroe Park Campus meant the school wouldn’t have to pay shipping costs – which would have been astronomical for the 47 boxes of books weighing in at close to a ton.

After the holidays, the Virginia Book Co. will distribute the donated books to “Books for Africa” or “Bridge to Asia,” two charitable programs with which the bookstore often work, said the Virginia Book Co.’s Christian Campbell.