In the 40 years since the International Book Project was founded in the basement of 17 Mentelle Park, the organization has gone from a neighborhood effort to a national initiative to get books into the hands of those who need and want them.
Harriet Van Meter thought globally and acted locally before such behavior became a catchphrase. The wife of a Lexington surgeon and a mother of two, Van Meter steered clear of convention. She returned to college at the age of 43 to pursue a Bachelor's degree in Family Studies and graduated Magma Cum Laude. Four years later she received her second degree, a Masters in Sociology, with induction into the Phi Beta Kappa Society.
By that point she had already started the International Women's Club and set an example for its members by bringing international students into her family's home for meals and to stay overnight in the 1960s, when segregation was still a part of daily life in this country. Sunday dinners at the Van Meter household could include as many as 70 guests from Lexington to China, all sharing culture and food together.
Her exposure to people from places outside Kentucky and the United States led to the creation of the International Book Project. While on a trip to India, Van Meter saw poverty firsthand. Amidst that poverty she saw a need for education and thus a need for books.
"When she was in India she saw a need," said Lynda Jeffries, now in her second year as executive director of the International Book Project. "She decided she wanted to do something about it." Van Meter's first action was to write a letter to the editor of the Hindu Times, offering to send books to anyone who asked. Within a month after her letter's appearance, more than 400 requests came to her Mentelle Park home.
Van Meter's self-started project turned her basement into the International Book Project's headquarters. When the requests came in, she turned to family, friends, and her church community at Maxwell Street Presbyterian Church for donations and manpower.
Initially, all book requests were filled by mailbag shipments. Donated books were hand-selected for the eventual destination, packaged carefully into mailbags that held 35-40 pounds of books, and sent off. While worldwide shipping has changed significantly since the 1960s, and mailbags have become very expensive, this is one method that is still employed at IBP. Smaller international shipments of books are sent, via mailbag, to more remote destinations, because any location that can receive postal mail can receive a mailbag.
"Mailbags are something we do that hardly any other non-profit organization in the world will do," said Jeffries. "Ninety-five percent of the books from Lexington (donations) are sent out in those mailbags. They are painstaking to put together because of the hoops you have to jump through to make sure it gets there. However, that's how the project started, and we feel like that's a tribute to Mrs. Van Meter. Being from a rural state, we can empathize with people in rural areas that they are the most marginalizedÖIt fits well with our mission."
For larger shipments to larger cities or those intended for bigger schools or libraries, sea containers that hold as many as 15,000 books can be shipped, sometimes directly from publishers who donate their overstocks to the International Book Project.
While some non-profit groups gain sophistication and technology and may change accordingly, the International Book Project has remained pretty simple. New and used books are collected, in increments from one to 10,000 at a time, they are stored in a warehouse on Delaware Avenue (acquired in 1982 by the IBP) until just the right fit is found, and they are shipped to a group or organization that has requested them. The books' final destination is usually overseas, but some donations are also made within in the U.S.
Although the word international is in the organization's title, filling a need for books closer to home has become part of the IBP's mission as well; the organization has donated over 10,000 books within its home state.
"We are really looking to support literacy needs in our community," said Jeffries, although she noted some publishers that donate overstocks require those books be sent outside of the country. "When (local) people or organizations donate books to us, we try to be a good steward and put those books where they were intended to go." One local project is in partnership with Books for the Bluegrass, which also includes the YMCA and United Way. Last year that group put a copy of The Little Caterpillar into the hands of every Fayette County kindergartner in the public school system.
All told, Jeffries said the International Book Project has donated 5 million books. She estimates half of that number came from donations within the Lexington area. "That's a lot of benevolence for a town this size," she said.
Still, a greater need persists. She estimated the IBP is only able to fulfill 10 to 20 percent of its requests. She keeps a list of 400 organizations that have already received shipments, but thirst for more books. "The goal is to send a bag of books to everyone in our system once a year so they are building on their literary skills. Ideally, you would send a bag every year and after 10 years, they'd build a library," she said.
With only two full-time employees and no federal funding, every need cannot be fulfilled. However, Jeffries said she took her job because she could see the potential to get a lot done and to make an impact, simply getting books into the hands of those who most need and want the opportunity to learn from what they contain.
"The whole concept of giving people what they needÖthat's what struck me as the extra care the organization takes to get the exact kind of books people need to accomplish their goal."
That extra care started with Harriet Van Meter. The IBP and its volunteers have worked to honor Van Meter, who passed away in 1997, in two significant ways. First, a documentary detailing her life and the creation of the International Book Project was recently completed. "A Life Extraordinary" was completed with a grant, and is now airing on KET (see schedule below).
Also in the works is a stamp honoring Van Meter and her quest for global literacy. To sign the stamp petition, or to get more information about the International Book Project, visit its Web site, www.intlbookproject.org, or call (859) 254-6771.