If you would like to request a box of books, please write a letter (either by standard mail or by email), telling us about your work, your students (if you are a teacher) and how you intend to use the books.   If you are using email, put your letter in the body of an email, not as an attachment, to Peggy Minnis at BookAid@aol.com. 

After your introductory paragraphs, include the answers to the following questions:

1. your COS date,
2. the ages of your reading audiences,
3. the US grade equivalent of your reading audience (e.g., reading at grade levels 1-7),
4. the types of books that would be most useful (e.g., kiddie lit, preschool, environmental, high school math)
5. your mailing address, in English. If you have a problem getting mail in English, mention it here and include the graphic of your address in the language used in your mail system as an attachment (perhaps a .jpg)
6. For Ukraine or Moldova PCVs, please include your phone number and the physical address where the books should be delivered, not a post office box.

If you are sending a request by regular mail, send it to
Peggy Minnis
Peace Corps Desk
Darien Book Aid Plan, Inc.
1926 Post Road
Darien, CT 06820 USA

Overseas shipments go via the most cost effective method available at that time and can take between three weeks and three months.  The packages are stamped  "Used Books, No Value," so there should not be a problem with customs.   Shipments to US Zip-coded Pacific Islands go via the USPS Media Mail and may take a little longer.  

Remember that Book Aid normally sends between 12 -16 pounds of books, so think about the weight of the books you are requesting.  Don't send a long list that would require 150 pounds of books to fill.  Set your priorities.  If you absolutely need only a class set of a book, tell us the genre you want since we can seldom supply an exact title.  We can't send a print encyclopedia anymore, unless you are in the Federated States of Micronesia.  Instead, we can offer you an encyclopedia on CD ROM.

If you would like the teachers at your school to request the books themselves, please have them e-mail Mrs. Kitty Graves at DarienBookAid.International@gmail.com or see information for institutions requesting books.