During the 1980's, RPCV's discovered huge quantities of used text books in school system warehouses. Apparently there was a law that limited the life of a text book, so perfectly good books were withdrawn from schools and warehoused. Volunteers were able to obtain those books and ship them to English speaking schools overseas. Shipping containers of books were sent as well as mailbags full of books were shipped. Funds were raised to pay for shipping.
The project received national recognition and won the Lorette Miller Ruppe Service Award.
RPCV Al Baird (Philippines) founded the Book Project and among many who worked on this project was RPCV Bob Anderson, who is still an active member of RPCVSF.
1985-1991 27,000 lbs of books sent to Africa, Philippines, Central America and the Caribbean
1999 987 lbs of books sent to Colombia, St. Kitts and Slovakia
2000 625 lbs of books sent to Jordan, Bolivia and Haiti
2001 1437 lbs of books sent to Micronesia, Slovakia, Haiti and Colombia
2002 600 lbs of books sent to Slovakia, Suriname, Haiti, Romania, and U.S. Programs.
Books were sent primarily to requesting Peace Corps Volunteers serving around the world but may be sent to other qualifying aid programs.