Why books?
At Books Make a Difference, we believe that every child deserves fun, high-quality books. We wish that school budgets allowed for giant, gorgeous libraries, but we know that so often, books are a scarce resource. This isn’t fair! Our programming intends to fill the gap in a small way, encouraging hardworking educators and giving kids books they’ll love.
How’s it going?
We’re overjoyed to have dropped off books for multiple schools already this year. We have over a hundred books ready to be dropped off at more schools right now, so if you’re a teacher or principal, reach out! We’ll briefly touch base, figure out the easiest time for you, then drop the books off right at your school.
For "30 Books in 30 Schools,” Books Make a Difference is giving (you guessed it) 30 new books to 30 schools around the city this school year.
Here are some examples for how schools have utilized the titles from our program:
Gave one book each to 30 different classrooms.
Gave one book each to students in one class / a group of 30 students
Placed the books in a little free library, where any kid could stop by and take one
Gave them out as prizes for a school-wide award ceremony, event, etc.
You get the idea—you can use the books however you want! And if there's another iteration of this idea that would work better for your school, let us know—we're open to pretty much anything. The only thing to note is that since we receive most of our titles by donation, we can't yet accommodate requests for specific books. But we do have some great new titles, which is so fun!
"It was a pleasure partnering with you on this initiative, and seeing the excitement these books will bring to our young scholars is truly rewarding.
I look forward to our continued partnership as we work together to foster a love of literacy and keep growing our readers at Fiske."
— J. Tillman, John Fiske Elementary School Particpating School
30 Books for 30 Schools
Ways to Get Involved
If you’re a teacher, administrator, or reading specialist at a Title I Chicago Public School, email us to ask for books! We’re always excited to get connected with a new school. If you want to donate books, start here!