Request for Donated Books
Dear Professor,
We are sorry for bothering you. We would like to introduce ourself to you. We are from Sumedang Student Association for Communications and Media Studies. One of our aims is to facilitate our members to get literature in our discipline. Because, you must to know it, in our region (Sumedang City) books are in a very lacked conditions. Sumedang regency is a remote place in Java Island. Our University is Sebelas April University.
But in our shortages, we try to intensify our studies by holding a group discussion. We have a group discussion, that is Sumedang Student Association for Communications and Media Studies. We have an initiative for getting a help for books’ donation from abroad, because we know that it is very difficult to get books donation in Indonesia, especially in english version.
We are very grateful if you could donate us books for our studies. we are now trying for building up a small library for our association. We are interested in the themes of COMMUNICATION THEORY, MASS COMMUNICATION, MASS MEDIA, ADVERTISING, JOURNALISM, PUBLIC REALTIONS and other MEDIA STUDIES books.
We are very hopely for your donations, because the books will be very important and useful for helping us in getting knowledge more.
Here is our mailing address:
SUMEDANG STUDENT ASSOCIATION FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA STUDIES PMII Warung Kalde Belakang Toko Eiger Kecamatan. Jatinangor Kabupaten SUMEDANG 45363 INDONESIA
Once again, thank you very much for your attention and kindness.
Best Wishes,
Sumedang Student Association for Communications and Media Studies
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The school of Communication at the University of Maryland received a request like the one here. My colleagues and I received a similar request from the “Sumendang Student Association for the Study of Theology and Religious Studies” . It seems curious that there is a Sumendang Student Association for Theology and Religious Studies and one by the exact same name for Communication and Media Studies. I have lived and taught in Indonesian universities and seminaries for nine years and have never heard of Sebelas April University where these students say they study. There is no website for such a university that I can find. One group sent books to this organization and the recipients were not able to pay the import duty for them, which was more than the cost of sending the books. I am wondering about the authenticity of this organization and their request.
Thanks for this information. Since posting this information, I have had similar questions. Perhaps your comment will help to further inform those who are considering making a donation.
I was going to say the same thing as Dr. Yoder: how can there be so many student associations in so many different disciplines (I’m also in theology/religious studies) whose messages are written exactly the same way? I found this article online when I went to look for their university:
Generous student chapter gets more than it bargained for
by Sue Kopen Katcef, UM SPJ Chapter Adviser
SPJ National Campus Adviser At-Large
There are many worthy projects for SPJ chapters to undertake. The University of Maryland student chapter found one this year when it teamed up to help some fellow students in Indonesia. But it led to some hard lessons that we felt were important to share with other chapters undertaking a similar effort.
It started as a simple enough request: an e-mail sent from some students at a small university in Indonesia to several instructors at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. The English may have been choppy but the message was clear:
“We are from Sumedang Student Association for Communications and Media Studies. One of our aims is to facilitate our members to get literature in our discipline. Because, you must to know it, in our region (Sumedang City) books are in a very lacked conditions. Sumedang regency is a remote place in Java Island. Our University is Sebelas April University….We are very grateful if you could donate us books for our studies….”
The e-mail came at a most opportune time because our student SPJ chapter had decided to conduct a book drive/public service project for a program overseas. Now that we had a request, we could pursue the project with a beneficiary in mind.
We collected more than 150 books–over 190 pounds–and filled five boxes. That was the easy part. But, we had a major case of sticker shock when it came to making arrangements for shipping these books. Estimated costs put the tab around $800. We got a break by working through the Merrill College of Journalism’s Fed Ex account that reduced the charge to just over $200 (with a special discount by shipping the boxes out on a Monday). The books shipped on Monday, May 21st.
But the saga doesn’t end there. When the boxes arrived, the students could only afford to pay the duty and taxes on one of them. What we didn’t realize was the duty and taxes on the boxes were MORE than the cost of shipping them. And, we were facing a deadline to either find a way to cover that cost — or risk having the books returned to us at our cost. FedEx worked with us to get an extension on the deadline while we worked to find a means to either reduce the cost or find the means to cover it. The Indonesian Embassy in Washington does work with organizations such as SPJ to waive duty and taxes for the shipping of text and research books, but those arrangements have to be made before the books are sent. The embassy requires a complete listing of every book that’s being sent. So, we were out of luck on that count. Thankfully, the D.C. Pro Chapter stepped forward and offered to cover the cost of duty and taxes, and the books were delivered.
Sending textbooks to a foreign university is a worthwhile and noble cause, but it can be very complicated and very expensive. A word to the wise: once you identify a recipient, check with the nearest diplomatic officials for that country about the process for shipping textbooks and other related research materials. Ask about the cost of sending the books to the country, and what might be done to exempt the shipments from the tax and duty charges on the other end. And when it comes to shipping, realize not all delivery services are created equal. You can find incredible deals if you just keep working at it.
But the payoff is great. As the students at Sebeleas April University put it:
“We are very hopely (sic) for your donations, because the books will be very important and useful for helping us in getting knowledge more.”
And anything we can do to help make that possible is well worth the effort!
Thanks, Laura. It’s an interesting story, suggesting that the emails may indeed be legit, but maybe not being totally thought through in terms of logistics. If pressed to part with books – and as a general rule I like to keep mine – I’d rather make sure someone in Indonesia is getting them than a textbook reseller in the US.
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