When is a book more than a book?

When it reaches a global audience...

Impronte di luce (http://www.improntediluce.it), a publisher in Italy, has acquired the rights to bring Ninety-Five to an Italian audience.

Essays from Ninety-Five will be used by the Albert Schweitzer Foundation for Our Contemporaries, an org whose mission is "to relieve as much suffering as possible. For this reason, we are particularly committed to helping farmed animals." They are now being translated to German to reach whole new audiences (http://www.albertschweitzerfoundation.org).

When it is used to teach...

Molly's story from One at a Time is used to teach humane education as part of a course on "Communication Skills for Animal Protection Professionals" (Humane Society University, http://www.humanesocietyuniversity.org/academics/cas/humaneleadership/courses/hl607.aspx)

One at a Time is a required text for the "Humane Education with Companion Animals" class at University of Illinois (http://labs.ansci.illinois.edu/companion/teaching/ansc215syllabus.htm ) and "Foundations of Humane Education" at Webster University  (http://www.webster.edu/depts/education/edsyllabi/sp06/grad/educ5230.w1_allspaw_sp06.pdf ).

Ninety-Five is used as a resource for the NYC Department of Education After School Professional Development Program, "Promoting Success in Science and Literacy Through Humane Education, Grades K - 5."

Excerpts of Thought to Exist were used for classes on "Green Consciousness" taught at Florida Atlantic University and "Conservation Biology" at Regis University.

When the stories inspire individuals and shelter workers...

An email we received from a shelter worker in Nevada, "Since we have received the books, I distributed the One at a Time copies to my kennel staff, with permission to read them while at work and of course read them at home. The fire has been rekindled in our hearts...our passion for our work at the shelter is renewed...we both laugh and cry together again...we cannot thank you enough for this book!! It had a profound and lasting effect on me when I first read it several years ago (and again now)."

Email we received from a college student regarding One at a Time, "Thank you SO much for writing this. I'm sure you've already heard this, but you're saving lives with this book. I can't imagine anyone reading this and looking at breeding, shelter pets, or "rehoming" the same way. The book is now sitting on a shelf in my dorm, and I plan to shove it in people's faces next time I hear 'I don't need to neuter my dog' or 'my cat just had a litter.'"

When it is used to support sanctuaries and organizations...

We have worked with the folks behind Vegucated to donate copies of Ninety-Five for door prizes and for community screenings (http://www.getvegucated.com/news/community-screenings-campaign-success/).

We continue to support the sanctuaries featured in Ninety-Five. We recently received this email from Michele at Peaceful Prairie (http://peacefulprairie.org), "I should tell you more often, but please know that not a day goes by that we aren't grateful for what you did to put it all together!"

Photos from Ninety-Five continue to be sold, with proceeds going to sanctuaries where the photos were taken.

Photos taken for the book have also been used by the sanctuaries featured in Ninety-Five, such as this bus ad by United Poultry Concerns: http://www.upc-online.org/respect.

We've donated copies of One at a Time to humane conferences, like the Texas Animal Control Association's annual conference, the Society of Animal Welfare Administrators semi-annual meeting, and the Midwest Veterinary conference, to thank them for their work on behalf of animals, and let them know of the power of this book as an outreach tool. We continue to reach out to the kinds of conferences across the country to offer them books to use at their events.

And, we've donated copies of Ninety-Five to veg food festivals from coast to coast, to use as raffle prizes or fund raisers, to support the important work of teaching the public about a plant-based diet. This, too, is an on-going effort to use our books to support other organizations working on behalf of animals.

When it is used by activists for outreach...

And here is how a librarian us using our books, "I am a librarian who purchased Ninety-Five on my own. I believed it was important for our library patrons to have access to as well, but because its subject is so important to me personally, I could not spend the library's money for it in fear that my own personal prejudices and ethics were compelling the purchase. So I gladly purchased it on my own, read it, and then donated it to my library. I am so pleased when I check and see that it is checked out as it currently is. I just added Thought To Exist In the Wild and One at a Time to my Amazon cart with the intention of doing the same. I just want you to know that your message is getting out and I so much appreciated the quality of writing and the lack of preachiness in Ninety-Five, which I think is essential to reaching the ambivalent and yet interested general reader."

First Universalist Church of Denver is using excerpts from Ninety-Five as part of its Carnism Awareness Task Force (http://www.seventhprinciple.com/ninety-five ).

When the book is used to create new educational tools...

As many of you know, we created stickers promoting veganism and shelter awareness, and they continue to be popular outreach tools and conversation starters. We've reprinted them and will keep them in stock (http://novoiceunheard.org/order_individual.html ).

When we hear from readers, shelter workers, and activists, we are inspired to continue our mission to educate people about animal issues. Based on an email from a shelter in Nevada, we are considering creating educational posters with excerpts from One at a Time for use at shelters, veterinarian offices, and other public spaces. We've done a few mock-ups (please click on the thumbnails below) and hope that putting names and faces to common scenarios will provide animal care workers yet another educational tool.

If you would be interested in utilizing some of these posters, please contact us. Your interest will let us know if we should go ahead with the project. We are still looking for ways to make them low or no-cost. If you would like to help fund this project, or even just sponsor a shelter in your area, please get in touch. If you are a shelter and you have a story from One at a Time that you would like to see on a poster, please let us know. This same idea could be applied to Ninety-Five if the interest is there.