My “Roman Empire” is the fact that I was able to achieve the highest level of education solely because I was born in one location and not another. Not academic merit, not hard work, only geographical luck. If I had been born some place else, I might have been denied the right to an education, among many other fundamental liberties.

Across the world today, more than 122 million girls are not able to get an education, because they’ve lost an arbitrary lottery they never asked to participate. This is equally infuriating and ridiculous.

Today, as I am making space on my shelves, it is only just that the books that helped me get an education now help these girls. For this, I am auctioning my books and will donate the entire proceeds to the Malala Fund.

This page contains all the information needed to participate, please read it carefully if you consider bidding.

The Malala Fund

The Malala Fund is an international nonprofit organisation founded by Malala Yousafzai, the Nobel Peace Prize–winning activist. Its mission is simple but powerful: to create a world where every girl can learn and choose her own future.

Core Focus Areas

• The organisation invests in programmes that help girls access 12 years of free, safe, quality education—especially in places where girls face the biggest barriers.
• The Malala Fund works in regions where girls’ education is most at risk, including: Afghanistan, Brazil, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Tanzania.
• They support activists, youth leaders, and local organisations pushing for policy reforms that improve access to education for girls.
• Through their Education Champion Network, they fund and train local educators and advocates who understand the challenges in their communities.
• The organisation amplifies the voices of girls around the world, sharing their stories to highlight the challenges they face and the change they are driving.

More information on their website: https://malala.org/

The Books

The list of books I am selling is available in PDF here and in Excel here.

How to Bid

The auction will be held online, on this website, within a limited time window which will be communicated soon. This will most likely be a couple of weeks to a month, so everybody has time to participate.

You will be able to bid on one or more books, there won’t be a “buy now” option so, again, everybody has the opportunity to participate.

At the end of the auction, you will be notified whether you’ve won or lost. If you won, you’ll be prompted to pay via bank transfer to my UK bank account. Because transparency is absolutely key, please note:

• I’ve decided not to use Paypal nor other online payment platform because they usually charge a fee for each transaction. If you pay from a bank account outside the UK, you might need to pay bank fees which I can’t control.
• I will email you a receipt of the transaction showing what you’ve paid, and I will update the auction page to reflect how much the book was sold (just the price, no personal information will be shared to anyone but myself).
• Once all payments will have been received, I will aggregate them and make a bulk donation to the Malala fund. I will publish here the receipt of this transaction.
• I will not keep any money from the auction, all will go to the Malala fund and to shipping.

Shipping your book(s)

On top of the price of the book, you will need to pay for shipping, which includes envelope or box, and postage. This is a bit tricky, I am still working out the easiest way to do this without having to go to the post office twice, once to ask for a cost estimate, and again to send the parcel. I’d also like to provide an estimate to people notified that they won the auction before they decide whether the price is worth paying (I would understand if you don’t want to pay £20 postage for a £10 book).

I might end up another service than the post office if cost is too high, any suggestion is welcome in the comments below.

When can I expect my book(s) after I paid?

Because I’m doing it all by myself, please be patient with the whole process, as it’ll most likely take me a couple of weeks to ship everything.

What will happen to the book that don’t sell?

Depending on how many books remain unsold, I might organise a second round, which will last longer and include a “buy now” option. Otherwise, I will either donate the remaining books to a charity shop, or keep them in my collection.

I have question, who do I ask?

Leave a comment on the page below with your question and I’ll happily answer them. Alternatively, email contact@isabelle-imbert.com.