About Us
Dr. Chaim Kubersky, Director of Department of Education, Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek, Sidney Kluger, Book Bank USA founder, and Mrs. Rachel Cohen, Chief Librarian of the Jerusalem municipal public libraries. They met to honor Mr. Kluger during his visit to Israel.1
Book Book Bank USA is a non-profit organization founded in 1966 to establish and resupply public and school libraries, as well as community centers in developing countries. Funding for the procuring of books, packaging and shipping is sought from foundations and individuals in the United States. We have:
- Sent over six million books to 37 countries in Asia, Oceania, Africa, the Middle East and Central America.
- Established entire libraries in some countries;
- Restocked exhausted shelves in others;
- Arranged for a fully equipped bookmobile for the city of Jerusalem;
- Received requests for every kind of book;
- Provided technical manuals, art books, general literature, encyclopedias, children’s books and teaching materials;
- Donated computers and related materials, library shelving, tables, chairs and ancillary educational equipment;
- Established nearly 30 art centers in nine countries;
- Established a special education library on the Caribbean island of Saint Kitts.
Following our original charter, Book Bank USA has developed an organizational facility with appropriate staffing to maintain this essentially volunteer program. We have now accrued valuable experience and connections, as well as visibility through nearly 42 years of placing books and educational materials in the hands of underprivileged people yearning to read and hungry for a better understanding of the world we all inherit.
Original Board Members & Board of Directors
The members of the Board of Directors are primarily professional business persons in the San Francisco Bay Area, all of whom are committed to providing opportunities for cross-cultural interchange principally through the written word. Assisting in this work is a prestigious group of writers who form the National Honorary Advisory Board. All members are keenly aware of the urgent pleas from people all over the Earth who value books for intellectual stimulation, personal growth, information and cultural exchange.
Our original 1966 Board Members: (L to R, top row) Bernard Kahn, Seymour Fraver, Arnold Horowitz, Sidney Kluger; Bottom row – Brian Henning, Sister Mary Alma, Daniel Koshland
National Advisory Board
Book Bank USA is proud to have some of your favorite authors and artists on serving on our National Advisory Board. Read Acceptance Letters of current and deceased Book Bank USA National Advisory Board Authors.
- Margaret Atwood
- Stephen Birmingham
- Myrna Blyth
- Kirk Douglas
- Mary Furlong
- Neil Gaiman
- C.S. Godshalk
- Julia Glass
- Herbert Gold
- Senator Josh Booth Green, M.D.
- Mollie Katzen
- Nancy Kleinbaum
- Dominque Lapierre
- Alberto Manguel
- Guadalupe Rivera Marín
- Sarah May
- Dave McKean
- Marion Mostny
- Gail Sheehy
- Paul Muldoon
- Leonardo Nierman
- Steven Ossad
- Valerie Ramsey
- Ruth Rendell, Life Peer and CBE
- Marion Somers, Ph.D.
- Dionne Warwick
- Marianne Williamson
- Jeffrey Winters
- Leonard Wolff
- Theodore Zeldin
48-Year Growth Chart
Since our founding in 1966, Book Bank USA has donated:
- 6,120,200 Books to 511 Libraries
- 2,700 Computers to 502 Schools
- To over 100 Senior Activities Centers across the US, American Samoa, Kenya, and Mexico
- To 29 Art Centers in Hawaii, Kentucky, Texas, Kentucky, and West Virginia across America, as well as Botswana, Israel, Kenya, The Philippines, The Republic of Guinea, Mexico, Saint Kitts, and South Africa.
Testimonials
“A million “thank you” to the Book Bank USA for helping to underwrite the Mexican Museum’s educational program. With your generous financial support we are able to purchase art supplies and books for our free Family Sundays projects and our outreach program, enabling us to create wonderful museum experiences for all.”
“Thanks to the generosity of Book Bank USA, student leaders at St. Andrew’s Schools in Honolulu were honored to meet Doctora Guadalupe Rivera Marin in 2015. Our young women were inspired and humbled to hear firsthand about her lifelong commitment to improving the lives of women in Mexico.”
“The celebrations of Mexico’s Bicentennial independence, gave us the opportunity to showcase the greatness of Mexico’s culture and the contributions of the Mexican-American community to the US art, culture and educational fields. With the support of Book Bank we were able to present more than 70 cultural events, many of them with the most prestigious cultural institutions along the Bay Area.”