Books From Bankrupt Borders Will Help Public School Students

It's been pretty sad to drive by the abandoned spaces once occupied by Borders bookstores. But in Chicago, at least, there's a silver lining to Borders' bankruptcy: The company handling its liquidation has announced plans to donate more than 8,000 books to the city's public school libraries.

Hilco Trading LLC has bought $130,000 worth of "academic-quality" books they determined would be useful to schools. The books cover everything from science to poetry and Chicago history to computer programming. Hilco president Jeffrey Hecktman made the donation announcement at Chicago's Carl Schurz High School during a panel discussion on education attended by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Senator Dick Durbin, Governor Pat Quinn, and a slew of local education leaders. Hecktman said it's his company's "first step in a continuing commitment to align our corporate resources with the needs of public education."

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Sure, it would've been preferable if Borders hadn't had to go out of business for kids to get new books—budget cuts have severely hindered big city school districts' ability to provide updated texts—but it's still the best possible result of all those "Going Out of Business" signs.

Photo via (cc) Flickr user The Ewan