MISHAWAKA , Indiana ( CNN ) -- `` What should I do with my used textbooks ? '' Xavier Helgesen of Better World Books and his partners say they have a small business plan others can follow . That 's a question many college students have pondered . But for Xavier Helgesen and his partners , Kreece Fuchs and Jeff Kurtzman , that question laid the foundation for their company , Better World Books . `` We just thought , like , wow , there are all these books out there that the bookstores are just saying , 'No , I do n't want it , ' but there 's totally value in those books , '' Helgesen said . `` You just got ta get them efficiently up on the Internet and then someone will buy them . '' Since the university bookstore would n't buy back their used textbooks , the founders tried selling the books on the eBay company half.com . The books sold like `` gangbusters , '' Helgesen said , for about $ 50 each . From there the partners began holding book drives . In one drive in 2002 , they collected 2,000 books and then sold them for $ 20,000 the next autumn . That success led to other drives , but textbooks could n't sustain the business alone . So Better World Books began reaching out to libraries . `` We went to the American Library Association conference with kind of a one page printed pamphlet that said , 'We 'll sell your books , ' and we heard all these horror stories , '' Helgesen said . `` We heard of libraries having to dump books down a well at midnight because they were n't allowed to even recycle them , but they did n't have any room on their shelves and they needed a home for these old books . `` Once we started doing that ... we get twice as many books from libraries now than we do from college campuses . '' Watch Helgesen talk about how the company got started » . Every day , Better World brings in 40,000 to 50,000 books , and the company says they send just as many out . Now with more than 2 million books in their Mishawaka , Indiana , warehouse at any given time , the owners of Better World Books said they think they have a book for everyone -- and a small business plan others can follow . Maintaining a successful small business , one that continues to grow in a recession , is no easy feat . After funding the business themselves for the first five years , the founders got a Small Business Administration-backed credit line in 2004 , followed by a $ 2.4 million venture capital investment in 2008 . They used the funding to build up their Web site and the Better World Books brand . As other small businesses have struggled , Helgesen and his partners have seen their revenues grow , from $ 4 million a year in 2005 to a projected $ 31 million in 2009 . And all the time they are helping others buy books they might not ordinarily be able to afford . The cheapest books sell for about $ 3.50 each , and all of the books are shipped at no cost to customers -- whether they buy 5 or 500 books at a time . The average order is for three or four books . But textbook deals remain at the heart of the Better World Books business . `` We 've gone through great lengths to build a business where we bring in tons and tons of college textbooks , '' Helgesen said . `` What 's cool about us is we post them at about market level , so some of the books will only be about 20 or 30 percent off , so they may still be $ 80 to $ 90 . Some other ones are 90 percent off , so you may be getting a $ 100 book for $ 10 , and that happens every day here . '' For Helgesen , Fuchs and Kurtzman , giving back is a vital part of the operation . Better World Books donates 5 to 10 percent of its revenue back into the hands of libraries and literacy programs around the world . And what about the books that still do n't sell even at Better World Books ? If a book does n't sell and is n't fit for donation , the company will ship it off for recycling . `` We actually audit our recycler , '' Helgesen said . `` We go there and see what they do , we check who they sell to and try to make sure they 're being ethical and not just lighting a big bonfire with the books . '' CNN Producer Ben Tinker contributed to this report .
Three companies build business on used school textbooks , bound volumes . Better World Books brings in and sends out 40,000 to 50,000 books daily . Revenue has grown from $ 10 million in 2005 to a projected $ 31 million in 2009 . 5 to 10 percent of revenue donated to education , literacy programs .