Chris Janssen was teaching a course in Rwanda when he noticed there weren’t enough quality textbooks to go around. Back in Canada, university students were selling their used textbooks for next to nothing, or more often, throwing them out. Textbooks for Change was his solution to both problems at once.
The model: collect used university textbooks from Canadian campuses through drop boxes and student club drives, sell them to generate revenue, and donate half the net proceeds to campus libraries in East Africa. The books that can’t be placed go to Goodwill workers for recycling.
What the Model Gets Right
Textbooks for Change operates as a B Corporation: meaning its dual-mission structure (generate revenue, fund impact) is legally embedded in the company’s governance, not just aspirational language. The social mission is funded by the commercial operation, not by donor generosity. That self-sustaining structure is what makes it replicable and durable.
The East Africa focus is specific by design. Rather than generic “education in developing countries” messaging, Textbooks for Change concentrates on campus libraries in Kenya and surrounding regions, where the gap between what’s needed and what’s available is well-documented and where donated university-level texts have clear, measurable use.
The model also solves a problem at both ends of the supply chain. Canadian students get a disposal option for books they don’t want, universities get easier campus waste reduction, and East African library systems get materials they can’t otherwise afford. The circularity is genuine.
The Surplus Economy in Education
Textbooks are one of the more interesting examples of a surplus economy: materials that have significant value to one population and are treated as disposable by another. Textbooks for Change exploits that differential through arbitrage: the Canadian secondhand market prices these books low enough to generate affordable inventory; the East African recipient population values them highly enough that the donation creates real impact.
This is the same logic behind Who Gives a Crap’s surplus supply chain and Company Shop Group’s surplus food redistribution. Finding the differential between where materials are undervalued and where they’re urgently needed is one of the more reliable social enterprise design patterns.
The microfinance loans to African entrepreneurs that Textbooks for Change also funds extend the model beyond books into financial inclusion, creating a slightly broader footprint than a pure textbook redistribution operation.
The most elegant social enterprises close gaps that already exist — they don’t create new supply chains from scratch. Textbooks for Change works because the gap between Canadian surplus and East African need is simply a question of logistics and organizational will.
Where the Model Extends
California universities have been offering zero-textbook-cost degree programs, where courses are designed using open educational resources (OER) that require no student purchase. This trend (driven by state funding for OER adoption) represents a structural shift that could reduce the supply of used textbooks available to organizations like Textbooks for Change while simultaneously reducing the financial burden on students.
For Textbooks for Change, this is worth monitoring as an eventual supply-side constraint. The better outcome (cheaper education globally) is worth the constraint. The organization’s adaptability will depend on whether it can pivot its collection model or expand into other surplus educational materials as the traditional textbook market evolves.
The workforce development angle (employing Goodwill workers for book collection and recycling) adds a second social layer to the model that doesn’t get enough attention. The commercial operation funds two distinct social outcomes simultaneously.
To find out more about Textbooks for Change, visit their:
P.S. If you’re on a Canadian university campus, Textbooks for Change’s drop box program requires minimal effort: it’s a clear win for book disposal that would otherwise go to landfill.