Book donation programs operate at several scales, from local home-library projects to international shipments measured in millions of books. The figures below cover reported activity from 2021 through 2025 and distinguish annual results, cumulative milestones, and forward-looking 2025 figures.
Contents
- The scale of book donation and reuse
- International shipments and country reach
- Book Aid International’s 2023 and 2024 results
- Schools, libraries, and readers reached
- Books For Africa: recent shipment and funding figures
- Local and family-focused book access
The scale of book donation and reuse
Better World Books reports several cumulative measures of book circulation and reuse under its Mission reporting. The organization says it has donated more than 38 million books and sold more than 117 million books. Its reported reuse and recycling total is more than 475 million books. These figures describe cumulative activity rather than a single donation year, so they should not be read as one annual total.
Better World Books also reports raising more than $35 million for libraries and literacy. Its environmental figures include 128,657 carbon offsets purchased and 16,884 Renewable Energy Credits, or RECs, purchased. These measures track supporting activity around book reuse and literacy rather than the number of books donated.
The physical collection network has a defined capacity as well. Better World Books says its drop boxes are designed to hold an average of 800 books. The organization also says it has hundreds of drop boxes in the United States and the United Kingdom. Because “hundreds” is not a precise count, it is useful as a description of network scale, while the 800-book figure is the more specific capacity measure.
Together, these statistics show why book donation is not only a matter of handing books directly to readers. Donation systems can include collection, resale, recycling, fundraising, and distribution infrastructure. The reported totals also combine different time frames, so cumulative and annual measures need to remain separate when comparing programs.
International shipments and country reach
Books For Africa provides a useful multi-year view of international book distribution. In fiscal year 2021, it shipped 3.1 million books and reached 28 countries. In fiscal year 2022, it shipped more than 3.2 million books and reached 27 African countries. The fiscal year 2022 summary also reports 1,065,000 digital books and 355 computers and tablets shipped.
The fiscal year 2023 annual report records approximately 4,029,000 books shipped to 32 African countries. It also records about 800,000 digital books, 116 computers, and 150 tablets. The reported value of those fiscal year 2023 shipments was more than $32.6 million, and the organization raised more than $2.6 million.
Books For Africa’s fiscal year 2024 results report 1.6 million books shipped and more than 1 million digital books shipped. The reported shipment value was more than $16 million, while fundraising to ship books exceeded $2.2 million. These fiscal year totals are not directly interchangeable with calendar-year results, and the reported quantities may reflect different program definitions across annual reports.
The same fiscal year 2024 results report individual donations from 48 states plus Washington, DC. The Georgia warehouse hosted approximately 10,000 volunteers. Books were also shipped out of London, Montreal, San Francisco, and India. In addition, the organization shipped nine Law and Democracy Libraries and 357 computers and tablets.
Books For Africa has also published cumulative milestones. It had shipped more than 50 million books by its 50-million-book milestone, and a 2022 update says it had shipped more than 55 million books to all 55 countries in Africa. These are milestone statements from different reports, not annual shipment totals.
Book Aid International’s 2023 and 2024 results
Book Aid International reported sending 1,235,900 brand-new publisher-donated books in 2023 and working with 164 partners around the world. Almost 74,000 books went to refugees in nine countries, with an additional 25,000 books sent to Ukraine. Through Generation Reader, the organization gifted more than 152,000 brand-new books, with the program reaching a potential 1.1 million young readers.
Its 2023 work also included establishing more than 180 school and community libraries, training more than 260 teachers and librarians, and funding the purchase of more than 10,000 locally published books. These figures describe different kinds of activity: books sent, potential readers reached, physical library locations established, people trained, and locally published books funded.
For 2024, Book Aid International reported a record 1,344,059 brand-new books sent to readers in 23 countries. It welcomed 40 new partners and supported 193 partners around the world. The organization also donated 363,496 brand-new books to education partners. Its 2024 Annual Review separately reports 848,817 books provided, so the two figures should be preserved as reported rather than combined or treated as identical measures.
The 2024 Annual Review gives several country and program details. It reports 24,721 books provided for the Ministry of Education in Eritrea and 14,812 books provided to education NGOs in South Sudan. It also reports £57,703 in grants for purchasing nationally published books. These figures highlight that book access can be supported through direct shipments and through funding for local publishing.
Book Aid International’s 2025 press release reports almost 850,000 books provided and support for 160 partners across 22 countries. It reports more than 13,000 books sent to support PEN Ukraine. A separate release says 35,362 books are being provided to eight partners across the West Bank and Lebanon in 2025. The wording “is providing” identifies this as a 2025 activity figure, not necessarily a completed historical total.
Schools, libraries, and readers reached
The 2024 Annual Review shows how book donation outcomes extend beyond shipment counts. Book Aid International reports reaching 771 public and community libraries, 37 refugee settings, 323 higher and further education libraries, 33 prisons, 475 medical settings, and 2,065 schools.
It also reports that 38 partner facilitators trained 510 teachers, librarians, and carers. Elsewhere in the same review, it reports upskilling 24 partner facilitators and training 364 people to support reading. These are distinct reported measures and should not be added together without a stated methodology, because the categories may overlap.
The organization reports reaching 19.3 million readers in 2024 and supporting 157 partners in that Annual Review. Its 2024 press release reports 193 partners around the world. The different partner totals appear in separate 2024 reporting contexts, so each should be labeled by its source rather than merged into one number.
Several 2025 figures describe specific institutional and community investments. Book Aid International established more than 117 new school libraries in Kakuma Refugee Camp and refugee settlements across northern Uganda. It also sent 50,000 books to restock the University of Mosul Library. These examples show how donation activity can target both new library creation and rebuilding or replenishing existing collections.
The following comparison keeps selected reports and measurement periods separate:
| Organization and period | Print books reported | Additional reach or support |
|---|---|---|
| Book Aid International, 2023 | 1,235,900 brand-new books | 164 partners; 23? no, 2023 partner figure only |
| Book Aid International, 2024 press release | 1,344,059 brand-new books | Readers in 23 countries; 193 partners |
| Books For Africa, FY 2023 | Approximately 4,029,000 books | 32 African countries; about 800,000 digital books |
| Books For Africa, FY 2024 | 1.6 million books | More than 1 million digital books; 357 computers and tablets |
The table uses the figures as reported. It does not calculate a combined total because the organizations use different reporting periods and definitions.
Books For Africa: recent shipment and funding figures
Books For Africa’s fiscal year reports also show the resources behind distribution. In fiscal year 2023, shipments were valued at more than $32.6 million and the organization raised more than $2.6 million. In fiscal year 2024, shipments were valued at more than $16 million and fundraising exceeded $2.2 million.
The reported change between those years should not be interpreted as a simple trend in demand or impact. Shipment counts differ substantially, and annual reports can cover different mixes of print books, digital books, technology, destinations, and program activities. The fiscal year 2024 results include nine Law and Democracy Libraries and 357 computers and tablets, while the fiscal year 2023 report lists 116 computers and 150 tablets.
Volunteer participation is another measurable part of the model. Approximately 10,000 volunteers worked at the Georgia warehouse in fiscal year 2024. Individual donations came from 48 states plus Washington, DC. The combination of volunteer labor, cash fundraising, physical shipments, and digital distribution illustrates the range of inputs that can support book access internationally.
Local and family-focused book access
Book Harvest reports more than 3 million books provided to families since 2011. Its North Carolina work has reached more than 2.7 million books across 98 counties, while its “Where We Are” reporting also gives a total of 2.6 million books harvested in North Carolina. Because these are separate reported measures, the figures should not be added together or assumed to describe the same denominator.
The Books in a Box program has mailed more than 2,200 books and reached more than 200 children. It spans 90 towns across the country, and Book Harvest reports that its home libraries have been filled in 14 states. These figures describe household-level access rather than international shipping volume: the unit of impact is a mailed book, a child reached, a town served, or a home library filled.
Across the programs covered here, the most useful comparison depends on the question being asked. Cumulative totals measure long-term scale; annual totals show activity in a defined reporting period; partner, school, library, and reader figures describe reach; and digital-book, computer, tablet, volunteer, and funding measures describe the infrastructure supporting distribution. Keeping those categories distinct makes book donation statistics more meaningful for readers, donors, libraries, and community organizations.