I recently came across a blog post discussing book donations for soldiers in World War I - a book drive in New York City resulted in this immense pile-up of books on the steps of the New York Public Library:

NYPL Book Drive

Pretty impressive, no? According to the same post, there was a call for books in Britain during WWI as well, not to provide entertainment to the soldiers at war, but to be pulped due to a paper shortage.

Luckily, the need to pulp books to make paper is not as pressing in the 21st century, but the call for books for soldiers is just as strong. Want to help?

Dog-Eared Pages Used Books in Phoenix, Arizona has started a drive with the aim to provide 100,000 paperbacks to soldiers in the Middle East. They are looking for support in a variety of ways:

     -- provide the name and address of a soldier you know in the Middle East to [email protected] (as well as what kind of books this soldier likes, if you know)

     -- donate to the cause (to help pay for postage) at the bottom of their home page

Books WantedBooks for Soldiers allows volunteers to register as a book-donating volunteer for soldiers currently serving. You can also donate to the charity to help pay for postage and other overhead costs.

Operation Paperback is similar to Books for Soldiers in that volunteers can ship books directly to troops. You can read more about how to donate here.