A few years ago, we decided to have a used book sale because we had so many great, gently used paperbacks that my children had grown out of. I had bought so many great books over the years that were as good as new since they were read only once or twice. You should have seen the selection! Magic Tree House, Animal Ark, Boxcar Children, Cam Jansen and Junie B. Jones were just some of the series books that we had many of. There must have been hundreds of books that we were giving away for pocket change.
We sat there for hours, with a sign and cars passing by, but only a handful of people stopped to look at our selection. How sad, I thought, that if it had been cookies, people would have pulled over immediately, but they could care less about books.
Since Hurricane Katrina had recently devastated New Orleans, we had planned on donating the proceeds of our sale, and all of the remaining books. The neighborhood firemen were making trips down there with supplies, so they made it easy for people in the area to make donations. Well, we ended up donating 99% of the books to the children and schools of New Orleans. It was a wonderful thing to be able to do that, but it was upsetting that people in my own neighborhood did not seem to care about books at all.
That's why I was so excited to find some wonderful nonprofit organizations that are spreading the message that time spent reading is truly the best gift that you can give to yourself, to children, and to others. Here they are:
- EVERYBODY WINS! is a "national literacy and mentoring nonprofit" which brings volunteer mentors into schools to read one-on-one with low-income children on a weekly basis. As per the site, the U.S. based organization "has evolved from informal read-aloud sessions to four distinct literacy and mentoring programs: Power Lunch, Readers Are Leaders, Story Time and EW! Book Clubs."
- Adele's Literacy Library was started in 2008 by a 13 year old girl who wants to share her passion for reading with others. This amazing teenager has recently partnered with six graduate students from the Paul Merage School of Business at University of California (Irvine) to create an Amazon web site called All for Books. Their philosophy is that "reading is not only fundamental, but it is the key ingredient to success and through reading ALL things are possible." I absolutely agree! You can read the full press release about this partnership here.
- The Reading Tub is a not-for-profit corporation that was created by parent volunteers "to help people with children in their lives (parents, grandparents, godparents, extended family members, and friends) sort through the shelves of children’s books and select the ones that are best for their child(ren)." People are busy these days, and selecting books is so much easier when you have access to the wonderful book reviews and recommendations that this site offers.
- The Literacy Site is part of an independent charitable organization and was founded to help promote literacy among children from low-income families. With just a click or an e-card, you can help to send free books to children around the world.
I understand that people are busy, and sites like these make it easier for people to give what I consider to be the most meaningful gift you could ever give to a child: a love of reading. So, please take a moment to check them out. You're a click away from making a really big difference in a child's life.
