Entrants's Name: Amina Marix Evans
Country: Netherlands
Field: Borderline Books
Innovation - idea: Saving books from being destroyed and redistributing them to those with little or no access to books. We emphasize the right of people to read books in their own native languages and do our best to acquire and supply them.
Innovation - why it is pioneering: The idea of giving away quantities of free books within a European country seems to be as new as some of the books we receive.
Strategy - how it achieves impact: We collect surplus books from publishers, libraries, bookshops and individuals and redistribute them free of charge to those with limited access to books. Main target groups: refugees, homeless people, women in shelters, women victims of trafficking, patients in long-stay hospitals, former prisoners, youngsters in childrens homes, inner-city youth groups. The enthusiasm with which they are received is a joy to behold, but the publishers who donate regularly are also glad to have a 'good cause' to give the books they can no longer sell.
Strategy - growth plans: This spring we will be making systematic mailings to let more organizations know of our existence and that "free" really does mean no charge. We are also offering the concept as a "recipe" to encourage more people to begin a Borderline BookSpace in their town. The latter to be done mainly in small-press magazines and online, the former via snail mail. We would like the idea to be as common as the village shop. For the moment we are developing the concept in the Netherlands and hope to spread it to the UK very shortly. We are also testing two work projects where the BookSpaces are run by homeless people and former addicts. We also hope to open a branch exclusively for women which can become a safe meeting place for survivors of abuse or trafficking to meet other women as well as a place to find books in their own languages.
Impact to date: We have supplied books to refugee centres, local refugee support groups, day centres for homeless people, an organization helping women forced into prostitution, womens shelters, children's homes, groups helping former prisoners, a TB hospital, youth groups and individuals- all in the Netherlands, plus schools in Suriname and Kenya.
Future impact: If wishes were horses... Borderline BookSpaces would be a common sight. Different branches would also offer reading lessons, language teaching, painting groups, writing classes, poetry evenings, carpentry... just whatever is needed for the people who come along. If a book we had given away had changed just one life somewhere, that would be wonderful.
Sustainability - resource base: We have used flyers, stickers, and internet to find volunteers and donors. Very often those who receive books hook us up with their networks - e.g. we received free supermarket shelving from contacts of one recipient. We are building up partnerships of different kinds and so far have managed with modest local funding. Building up good networks is essential. In order to receive certain books from publishers we also have to demonstrate that we make all efforts to reach clear target groups. We are now receiving books from the prison libraries which enables us to stock books in many of the other languages spoken in the Netherlands.
Major challenge for the field: Maybe remembering that history has been there already. In "the west" there is such a tendency to think every idea is new, every challenge is new, every sickness is new. Mostly it is just a faster, bigger more expensive version of an old challenge and all we need to do is change our vision along with the vocabulary (I mean, no one has "problems" any more, so that's a start!)
Contact Information:
Name: Amina Marix Evans
Mailing address: Postbus 27, 2210 AA Noordwijkerhout
Country: Netherlands
Email: books@borderlinebooks.nl
Tel: +31-(0)6 123 386 23
Website: www.borderlinebooks.nl
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