Our mission is to promote literacy in Central Texas by holding free book fairs for youth in low-income communities. We believe every child matters.
THE NEED
We know that disadvantaged children have a lack of access to books in their homes and as a result are significantly behind their peers academically.
The Literacy Project reveals a stark disparity in book ownership:
-
Affluent Families – 13 books per child
-
Low-Income Families – 1 book per 300 children
This gap is a driving force behind our program.
THE OPPORTUNITY
Our aim is to help students who have limited access to books at home get introduced to the joy of reading and improve their reading skills by creating their own home libraries.
OUR METHOD
We partner with Title I public schools to provide a FREE school wide book fair. Each student gets to pick one brand-new book to add to their home library. The key here is choice. The students get to choose the book for themselves based on their interests and reading level and as a result are more likely to read it!
We also provide books to children in foster care, teen moms, and students living at the Texas Baptist Children’s Home.
Title 1 School Partners:
- Austin Achieve schools;
- KIPP schools;
- IDEA public schools;
- Wayside schools;
- Cedars International Academy;
- Round Rock ISD and
- Del Valle ISD.
Partners Serving Foster Care Youth:
Partners Serving At-Risk Youth:
TO DATE, BOOK DRIVE FOR KIDS AUSTIN HAS
BOOKS GIVEN
34,417
TOTAL BOOKS GIVEN
17,300
SCHOOL BOOK FAIRS
9874
TITLE I - SCHOOL LIBRARY
2617
PARTNER ORGANIZATION LIBRARIES
3,583
FOSTER CARE YOUTH
1043
AT-RISK YOUTH
SERVED (Direct Contact at Book Fairs)
14,907
TOTAL CHILDREN SERVED
2,010
CHILDREN in FOSTER CARE
12,310
STUDENTS at TITLE 1 SCHOOLS
587
AT-RISK STUDENTS
AT
61
EVENTS
GET INVOLVED
We are currently in need of the following:
- New books
- Cash donations to buy books in volume
- In-demand books purchased off our Amazon Wish List and Walmart Gift Registry
- Gift cards to Half Price Books and FirstBook to buy books
- Handmade bookmarks
- Volunteers to work at book fairs
If you want to host a book drive of NEW books, please reach out to Brooke at [email protected] to discuss details. We are not currently taking donations of used books.
THANK YOU to our SPONSORS!
