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FAQs
Where does the name Hesperian Foundation come from?
Where is Hesperian located?
Are there Hesperian field offices?
Do you give grants?
How can I get copies of books in other languages?
Who do I contact if I am interested in translating a Hesperian book?
Are your books available online?
How do you develop your books?
Who uses Hesperian books?
Do you give away free books?
Who is David Werner?
How is Hesperian's work funded?
Do you accept manuscripts?
How often do you update your books?
What books are you currently developing?
Where does the name Hesperian Foundation come from?
The Hesperian Foundation's original office was located on Hesperian Boulevard in Hayward, CA. There is no connection to any person with the last name Hesperian anywhere in our history.
Where is Hesperian located?
Our offices are located in Berkeley, CA. To learn more, please visit our contact us page.
Are there Hesperian field offices?
Hesperian relies on a global network of grassroots health organizations to help us develop and disseminate our materials, but do not have field staff or offices. Learn more about our collaborative book development process.
Do you give grants?
We've created three grant programs to help fund organizations who either distribute (Gratis Fund), translate (Translations Fund), or use our materials for community education projects to promote women's health (Creative Education Fund).
How can I get copies of books in other languages?
Hesperian publishes English, Spanish and sometimes French versions of our books, which you can find in our online bookstore. If you are looking for a title in another language, please visit our translations page for a list of publishers and their contact information.
Who do I contact if I am interested in translating a Hesperian book?
Please contact Tawnia Queen, International Publications Associate at tawnia@hesperian.org. For more information about existing translations and translations in progress, please visit our translations page.
Are your books available online?
Hesperian has made a commitment to publish online versions of all of our books and to keep those online editions up-to-date, incorporating all corrections and revisions as they are made.
We are happy to have other organizations link to our online publications, but in order to prevent out-of-date or altered editions of our publications from being accessed online, we do not allow Hesperian publications to be posted on other sites without our explicit permission.
How do you develop your books?
Hesperian develops new books after an exhaustive period of needs assessment and consultation with our international network of partners. It is these same partners who assist us in researching, writing and conducting community review. This high level of collaboration ensures that the final book will be relevant, culturally appropriate and reflective of the lives and needs of the people who need it most. Learn more about our collaborative book development process.
Who uses Hesperian books?
From international development workers to remote village health promoters, schoolteachers, medical missionaries, midwives, refugee camp workers and grassroots leaders, countless people worldwide rely on Hesperian publications as essential tools for healing, community health education and organizing for change.
Learn more about the people we serve.
Read what others are saying about us.
Do you give away free books?
Hesperian's Gratis Book program sends free copies of our books to health workers and other community leaders who are unable to afford even our subsidized "Poor Country Prices".
Who is David Werner?
David Werner founded the Hesperian Foundation. He, along with others, wrote and illustrated some of our earlier books based on their work with health and rehabilitation programs in a rural village in Mexico. Werner left Hesperian in 1993 and is no longer associated with Hesperian. Learn more about the circumstances of David Werner's departure from Hesperian.
How is Hesperian's work funded?
Hesperian is primarily funded by grants from foundations and gifts from individual donors. Book sales generate enough income to keep the books updated and in print, but not nearly enough to cover the costs of developing new publications. Hesperian has no endowment; we must raise funds every year to sustain our book development and distribution, as well as to help fund translations and other work of our grassroots partners.
Do you accept manuscripts?
Hesperian only publishes materials we develop and thus we do not consider or review other manuscripts. However, we do distribute a select number of titles that have already been published by others.
How often do you update your books?
In order to ensure that Hesperian books remain as accurate, up-to-date and useful as possible, we revise our books every time they are reprinted. In these revisions we correct factual errors, improve illustrations that book users find problematic, and add or update information on illnesses and their treatments, especially regarding new or newly accessible pharmaceuticals. We also carry out a major review of all or parts of a book in the first few years of publication, and based on our readers' and partners' comments we undertake more significant revisions.
What books are you currently developing?
Hesperian is developing seven new publications to be released in the next several years. Learn more about our books in progress.