THE CHALLENGE: BOOK DRIVE!

This month, collect as many used books as you can. We're partnering with the Liberian Literacy Foundation to support the collection of 1.2 million donated used books to build 1,200 literacy centers in Liberia and educate 1.8 million people.

Pick out a few of your own books to donate, or run a campus-wide book drive and you'll get 500 points just for participating -- plus 50 points for every book you collect.

Participate in just four easy steps:

1. Step 1: Collect books!



2. Step 2: Enter each book on our book entry form and make sure we have your contact info.



3. Step 3: Get contacted by someone about arranging the pickup/dropoff of your books.



4. Step 4: Execute the pickup/dropoff of your books between November 20-30.

Where do the books go?

After you've collected them and the Liberian Literacy Foundation arranges to get them from you (often through a third-party organization on or near your campus), books at K-12 reading levels are transported to literacy centers in Liberia or to poor primary and secondary schools here in the United States. College textbooks -- which as you know can be worth a lot of money! -- are sold in the Liberian Literacy Foundation's online store, and the proceeds support literacy institutions in Liberia and the U.S.

The Liberian Books Project is a sustainable development project for Liberia. Under the project, the programs of recycling books, building libraries, providing educational resources, and delivering renewable energy to Liberia are synchronized into one cohesive effort of sustainable support for Liberian schools.

In other words, this challenge isn't just about books. It's about a sustainable system of education, and building of environmentally-friendly learning facilities for a country in dire need of educational materials. The Liberian Books Project adopts the goals of the United Nations Millennium Development Challenge of 2015, and seeks to support these goals in Liberia by creating 1,200 scholarships, supporting 1,200 literacy centers and providing renewable electricity to schools in Liberia by 2015.

THE PRIZES:

The campus collecting the most used books in November will receive:

1. 50,000 OCC points



2. Copies of Half the Sky signed by author Sheryl WuDunn for your team



3. New, customizable OCC T-shirts for your team, with your choice of color print



4. A ONE press release about your big win sent to your local and campus publications



5. A visit to your campus by Liberian Literacy Foundation Executive Director E. Victor Helb, Jr., and a conference call with Dr. Joseph Korto, the Liberian Minister of Education in December.

We'll also have runner-up prizes of 25,000 and 12,500 points for the second- and third-place schools. For more info on prizes, check our Prizes page.

THE ISSUES:

For children across the world, education can be a powerful pathway out of poverty. When children are able to go to school, they have a much better chance at leading productive, healthy lives and helping their families and communities escape the cycle of extreme poverty. Educated mothers, for example, are more likely to have smaller families, have their children immunized and send them to school. Education also equips people with skills to contribute to their economies and empowers them to hold their governments accountable.

Despite the far-reaching benefits of education, 75 million children remain out of school around the world. Most of these children are girls and most are living in hard-to-reach conflict zones or rural areas. In recent years, many governments have removed the biggest barrier to education by removing school fees. Thanks to efforts from African governments and savings from debt relief, 34 million more African children went to school for the first time between 1999 and 2006.

Yet other barriers still exist, such as the cost of books and uniforms, and the quality of education remains poor in many countries. Many of the children who do enroll in school do not complete a full course or do not graduate with even the most basic reading and math skills, often because their schools do not have enough teachers, books or facilities to provide a quality education.

In 2000, the world committed to ensure every child has a chance to complete primary school by 2015 through the Millennium Development Goals. While substantial progress has been made in opening school doors in the world's poorest countries, the rate has not been fast enough. If the world is to achieve universal primary education by 2015, all children will need to be enrolled by 2010.

Recently, there has been renewed energy towards meeting these goals. During the presidential campaign, then-candidate Barack Obama pledged that during his Presidency, the United States would make a contribution of $2 billion to a Global Education Fund. And in the lead-up to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, international football stars and FIFA have teamed up with 1Goal, a campaign to rally support for universal education.

Learn more about the 1Goal movement

Check out ONE's issue page on education

Read ONE's policy brief on the principles of a Global Fund for Education

Get all the latest education news and info on the ONE Blog