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Reference Publisher Helps Put Books Into the Hands of the World's Most Disadvantaged Readers
Reference Publisher Helps Put Books Into the Hands of the World's Most Disadvantaged Readers
Published 05-27-05
Submitted by Oxford University Press
Anyone who donates a good, usable English dictionary to BookAid will receive a $10 rebate towards their purchase of The New Oxford American Dictionary Second Edition ($60.00 hardcover, May 16, 2005). Their old dictionaries will then be sent to libraries in the third world, including sub-Saharan Africa and areas hardest hit by last December's tsunami in Sri Lanka.
Oxford even provides a postage paid mailing label for dictionary donations, available for download at www.oup.com/us/dictionaryrebate.
"Oxford's customers have been extremely generous," reports Rebecca Seger, Director of Reference Marketing for Oxford University Press. "Donated dictionaries will shortly be on their way to help English speakers, and those struggling to learn English, in the developing world."
Books are the basic tools of literacy and education, yet millions of children and adults across the developing world do not have access to them. Book Aid International provides over half a million books and journals each year to libraries, hospitals, refugee camps and schools in the world's poorest English-speaking countries.
"We're extremely proud of the opportunity to promote literacy around the world and make good use of these used dictionaries," said Laura Brown, president of Oxford University Press USA. "It's a great way for readers and publishers to come together and do some real good in this world. Instead of throwing out old dictionaries, or having them sit on a shelf unused, we're doing something to help others."
"BookAid will be supporting the reconstruction of libraries in Sri Lanka, which were wiped out in the recent tsunami," noted Sara Harrity, Director of BookAid International. "Fifty-two community libraries have been damaged or destroyed by the tsunami, and we will be supplying around 25,000 books as our contribution to ensuring that education is restored as quickly as possible in the affected areas."
BookAid and Oxford both believe that books can make a real difference to people's lives. Farmers, nurses, mechanics, development workers and teachers around the world all need books and information to support their work.
For more information please visit www.oup.com/us/dictionaryrebate
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press, Inc. (OUP USA), is Oxford University Press’s second major publishing center, after Oxford (UK). It publishes works that further Oxford University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. The Press had its origins in the information technology revolution of the late fifteenth century, which began with the invention of printing from movable type. The first book was printed in Oxford in 1478. In 1586, the University itself obtained a decree confirming its privilege to print books. This was further enhanced in the Great Charter secured by Archbishop Laud from King Charles I, which entitled the University to print “all manner of books.†The University first appointed Delegates to oversee this privilege in 1633. Minutes recording their deliberations date back to 1668, and OUP as it exists today began to develop in a recognizable way from that time. OUP’s international expansion began with the opening of a US office in 1896. The office was established initially simply to sell bibles published in Oxford, but by the 1920s, the office began to produce books on its own. The first nonfiction work published by OUP USA, The Life of Sir William Osler, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1926. Six more Pulitzers, several National Book Awards, and over a dozen Bancroft Prizes in American history have followed since. OUP USA is by far the largest American university press and perhaps the most diverse publisher of its type. It publishes at a variety of levels, for a wide range of audiences in almost every academic discipline. The main criteria in evaluating new titles are quality and contribution to the furtherance of scholarship and education. OUP USA produces approximately 500 titles each year, of which 250 are scholarly research monographs, and imports close to 800 such works from our UK and branch offices. OUP USA has 3,300 scholarly books in print and stocks another 8,700 imports from other OUP offices around the world. All publications are first vetted by OUP’s Delegates, who are leading scholars at Oxford University and from other top US institutions. OUP USA employs nearly 500 people in the US, evenly divided between its offices in New York City and the Research Triangle area of North Carolina.
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