USNA News Article

Midshipmen Donate Books Overseas

Jan 6, 2012

By Jessica Clark, U.S. Naval Academy Public Affairs

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (NNS) -- With the start of the new year, Midshipmen from the U.S. Naval Academy are preparing for their annual donation to Books for International Goodwill.

Books for International Goodwill is a local program organized by Naval Academy political science professor Steve Frantzich, that donates textbooks to schools and libraries overseas.

Midshipmen have myriad resourcse to assist them in their academic pursuits, including the Nimitz Library and the Center for Academic Excellence.

“We've been so blessed by having these vast kinds of resources available,” said Frantzich, who has volunteered with the program for 15 years.

While working in the Czech Republic, Frantzich saw that many of his students had to check out books overnight, staying up all night to finish their work so they could return the books the following morning.

“Books are not a big-ticket item for us, but for a lot of students overseas, they've never had a book of their own,” he said.

The Brigade of Midshipmen contributes approximately 5,000 books each year with a total value of about $20,000. These books join other donations in what Frantzich calls a "library in a box," a crate of up to 25,000 books which is then sent to institutions in countries like the Philippines and Pakistan.

The program also ships books to active duty military overseas and recovering soldiers at military hospitals within the U.S, as well as to U.S. prisons and Native American reservations.

“I find it very rewarding,” said Frantzich. “I look at books and literacy as the key to people's economic progress.”

It also supports international goodwill, he said. “We sometimes don't have very good relations with Pakistan, but if you'd look at the letters that I get back from the libraries that we've contributed to there, there's a great appreciation for what Americans are doing for them on a personal basis. We're building those interpersonal connections.”

Shipments are funded in part by several used books sales the organization hosts throughout the year at their warehouse in Annapolis. The next book sale is Jan. 21.