I’ve loved books for as long as I can remember. Surprised? Yeah, I didn’t think so.
I grew up learning to read with tattered hand-me-down copies of Dr. Seuss and whatever else I could manage to get my hands on.
Being the middle child of a family of five kids and one income, new books were a luxury. Once in a very great while, my parents would give me just a few dollars to buy something new at the school book fair. But for the most part, my mom was kind enough to take us for regular trips to our tiny local library, where we could pick from what seemed like an endless supply of things to read.
The little man, 18 months old.
I grabbed ancient copies of Nancy Drew from garage sales. I snagged psych books from a junk store that declared anything “educational” free for the taking when they closed down.
When I didn’t have a library book, or was through my Goodwill pile, I read the garage sale encyclopedias we kept in the house.
I grew up seeing my mom read during the rare times she had a moment to herself, and wanting to borrow her books when she was done. (Sidenote: I read Jane Eyre, only after my mother made me look up a list of words in the dictionary she wrote down while reading, telling me that I needed to look them up first so I would understand the book. My mom is awesome.)
Geekin’ it up at the bookstore.
We may not have taken trips to a fancy bookstore, filled with the smell of caramel lattes, and the shimmer of glossy book covers, but we were fortunate. We had parents who encouraged our love of reading and who found a way to get reading material for us.
Books were a precious commodity. They were something to be appreciated and treasured.
Now, as a mom, I love seeing that same love for reading and stories in my little boy.
Sadly, not every child is fortunate enough to have access to good books.
So, here is my request. As regular readers know, some time ago I started GoWithout here on the blog – an effort to encourage everyone to look at something they usually spend their funds on (like, say, your cup of Starbucks coffee), skip it, and spend that money on someone who needs it. Just a few dollars can mean the world to someone.
You all got creative. Those of you who were already forced to give up a lot for your own sake gave of your time. And many of you shared your stories here.
It’s been a little while since I’ve made any GoWithout requests. I wanted to do something new as part of the GoWithout effort early this year. I’ve been asked to guest on Rhonda Hopkins’ Authors Give Back series this month, so I knew I wanted to have something to share.
It occurred to me that in the course of working on a novel, I’ve made connections with a great number of people who likely have similar stories about their love for reading.
And the idea was born. Let’s get books to kids who need them.
If you:
- Are an author who writes for children, MG, or YA
- Have a favorite childhood book you can’t imagine a kid being without
…then you can take part. I’m highlighting two organizations (see below). If you have a book you’ve published that falls into the above category, or you’d like to purchase a book you couldn’t live without as a kid, send your book(s) to the following organization:
77 Cornell Street (#109)
Kingston, NY 12401
The Lisa Libraries donates new children’s books and small libraries to organizations that work with kids in poor and under-served areas.
This group came to my attention when I saw a photo on Facebook of my sister-in-law’s mom gathering books to restock a school library that was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. I thought that was a great idea, and asked if there was a way we could help.
UPDATED: Lisa Libraries informed me that they will also accept gently used books and get them to places in need. Several of you in the comments mentioned that you have such items, so feel free to consider sending them their way. I’ve mailed large boxes of books before at book rate with the post office and found the costs very reasonable!
If you don’t have a book to give, but would like to donate cash, I recommend a second organization:
Mission Statement: Kids Need to Read works to create a culture of reading for children by providing inspiring books to underfunded schools, libraries, and literacy programs across the United States, especially those serving disadvantaged children.
This organization has some pretty awesome founders: PJ Haarsma, author of the uber-cool Softwire series (seriously, go check him out), and his good friend Nathan Fillion, two guys who get how important it is for all kids to have access to good reading material.
Now, 3 years old.
I’ll be talking more about this as the month goes on, and I’d love to hear from all of you. Let me know in the comments what books were your childhood favorites. Share your stories of how books inspired you. Then share this post with others!
Yesterday, my book was FREE for the taking on Amazon, and continues to be today. It’s been super fun giving the book to people who really wanted to read it.
So, let’s keep that awesome feeling going by giving to the kids.
[A big thank you to authors like Lynn Kelley, Jen Kirchner, Tiffany White, and August McLaughlin who've already expressed their desire to help with this effort! Your encouragement means a ton!]
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You always have such great ideas! I love your comment, “I grew up seeing my mom read during the rare times she had a moment to herself”. I have similar memories. One of my favorite first books was, Pokey the Little Puppy! It was passed down to my son when I found it in a thrift store one day. Books are NEVER disposed of carelessly in this house. They are either closely guarded treasures or donated in some way; library, school, new little friends learning to read! We wrap our memories around those good reads. The time we drove straight through from CT to FL, with an air mattress in the back of the minivan, I read “Give Me One Wish”. The vacation out on the West Coast that I cried through the last four chapters of “Marley and Me”. The ride from the beach with my niece and nephews in Martha’s Vineyard, as our three year old son read his newly gifted “Piggies”! Pass them along and help someone else make some memories! Thank you, Amber, for giving me pause to remember.
Nadine – you actually bring up a good point…while the charities above are looking for new books, there are groups that accept used ones, and there is nothing wrong with a well-loved book! (Except maybe the ones that the baby used to teeth on
). I’ll have to see if I can find a charity to add that accepts well-loved books. 
And thanks for sharing those memories!! I love the air mattress in the van.
You are awesome.
By the way, I kind of love tattered books. It’s part of the appeal of a used book store. It implies that the book was previously loved and meant something to somebody.
I agree.
ABEBooks.com is a great site to find used books if you want something specific and can’t search the world for it. I bought a stack of Serendipity books (they were among the ones mom would occasionally let me buy at the book fair) to give to my mom a few years back. Some are a bit tattered, but it just adds to their charm.
My dad was in the military, so we moved a lot. The library was the first place I’d find in a new town. Books were a constant for me! I think they are for a lot of kids.
This is a great idea Amber.
Thank you, Coleen! I think you are right – books are a constant for a lot of kids.
You are such an inspiration Amber!
I grew up much like you – my parents both had a love of reading and we spent a lot of family time reading books. My favorite as a child was the Poky Little Puppy and I STILL have the original from my childhood in my library.
I was just organizing my office the other day and you’ve reminded me that it’s time to pile up my most-loved and well-enjoyed books to pass the love of reading on to someone else. I love to donate books to second hand stores, Value Village or the Salvation Army…off to put a pile together…
Thanks being a great role model and inspiration to us all! MUAH! Here’s to an incredible 2013!
Natalie – I am glad this post made you think about those books that need to be loved by someone new!
Thanks, Amber, for mentioning the Lisa Libraries. And thanks for your efforts to encourage everyone, young and old, to read.!
You’re welcome, Joyce!
I love my library. It’s like Norm walking into Sam’s bar in Cheers: I feel at home there among the stacks of books and the possibility of discovering new worlds among those pages.
My favorites growing up were Gerald McBoing-Boing by Dr. Seuss, Bluebeard, Nancy Drew, and the Little House series. I didn’t own many books, but I treasured the ones I had.
I love this effort, Amber. What a great idea! I’ll spread the word.
My aunt was kind enough to lend me her Little House collection when I was a kid.
I loved Caddie Woodlawn and the Betsy-Tacy series (Can you tell by that how old I am?) My favorite children’s book now is Bridge to Terabithia. I will visit the sits you suggested.
I haven’t heard of those! I’ll have to check them out.
Bridge to Terabithia was one we read in school – I think it’s required reading here.
Thank you so much Amber for the mention of the Lisa Libraries. Next week we will be delivering 750 books to Lido Elementary in Long Beach, NY. Nearly all of the books in their school library were destroyed during Hurricane Sandy. We are arranging shipment to another school in Long Beach also flooded by the Hurricane, as well as schools and organizations in New Jersey.
Elisa – thank you so much for stopping by and filling everyone in on your current efforts! I know a lot of people want to be able to help in some fashion after a disaster, and sending a book is such a simple, but wonderful thing to do!
I agree! My girls love reading already at 2 yrs old .. I read your book last night couldn’t put it down! Thanks for the good read and encouragement to keep me writing!
Aw, thanks so much, Amy! I’m so glad you enjoyed the book, and am even more happy to hear that you’re giving your girls a good start!
Your little guy is so cute, and what an awesome mom you are, Amber. This is such a worthwhile project, and I’m so glad you invited me to take part in it. Thanks so much for the shoutout!
I love that you were so willing to join in before I even had the idea fully together, Lynn! If you know other Children/MG/YA authors who might be inclined to donate copy (or two, or three) please send them this way!
(And thanks – it was nice to have an excuse to show off the little man)
You know how I feel about you. I adore you. And it never ceases to amaze me at how big your heart is! You know I’m in!
Another early adopter! Big hugs!
Thanks Amber
Welcome, Tom! Feel free to share your childhood favorites!
I don’t often get to do stuff like this but this one I’m excited to look into! Some of my childhood favorites were books like ‘Growltiger’s Last Stand’ which was a collection of some of T.S. Eliot’s Cat poems. A couple other stand outs were ‘Sir Gawain and the Loathly Lady’ by Selina Hastings and ‘Sign of the Seahorse’ by Graeme Base. Mom also had a book that was full of various Knight tales. I just remember it had fabulous artwork and I loved doing sketches based off of the illustrations.
So cool! I love the mix of books I’m hearing about in the comments. I wonder if the artwork in the books you read as a kid influenced your love of art (“humandisaster” is very talented, ya’ll).
I LOVE this Amber! What a great way to give back and it is so appropriate since we all write.
I was an avid reader and read the Nancy Drew books (I found at garage sales) to my kids!
Thanks for bringing this to the party. It is WILD!
I hope you have fun clicking on some links and they are sure to click back. It is a great way for my readers to meet everyone! Have fun “chatting” in the comment section!
I have been hopping around the links on your blog – thanks for giving a bunch of us the chance to meet each other!!
What a great idea. Thanks for the links and the nudge to reach into my pocket book for some funds to donate, and not my Starbucks Gold Card
I’ll let you know where my GoWithout coffee money is going in a private email.
Thanks, E!
If anyone else is participating but doesn’t want to give public detail, feel free to shoot me an email. I’d love to be able to update everyone over the course of the effort about how it’s going. Numbers and names can totally be left out.
Such a great idea, Amber. So glad you’re doing this. Someday when I finish my YA novel, I’d be more than happy to send a copy of it off to one of these organizations.
Awesome, Tami! Thank you!
After we immigrated to Canada, my parents couldn’t afford to buy us books either. I didn’t get any new books until I was old enough to get a job and have my own money to buy books with. But, there were plenty of good libraries in our city. My sis and I would walk a half hour (each way, loaded with books) to get to the nearest one. I love libraries!
I’d be happy to send a book to Lisa Libraries!
Teresa, this is exactly why libraries are so important! There are plenty of kids that only ever get to read a book if it’s provided for them in their school or public library, and some areas are sadly lacking in them.
Thanks so much for participating!
This is awesome! As I write this, I have a big bag of gently used books sitting in my living room. I was going to bring them to work (I work as a medical assistant to a pediatrician at a clinic) to put in the waiting room. I should really donate them to an organization that accepts used books. If you know of any, let me know. Otherwise, I could just take them to our local women’s shelter, too. I know we have one in our county.
At my work, we are participating in the Reach Out and Read program. Every child who comes in for a well check up between the ages of 6 months and 5 years, gets a book to take home. I think that they are always looking for donations to keep their program running.
Shelli, that is a neat program your work is doing, and I love that you are looking for a place for your gently used books. I’ll do some research and see if I can find orgs that accept the used ones (your ideas are great ones!)
Thanks so much!
Thank you for helping to get more books to kids. I will add that it is important for kids to read the books once they get them. Not all children have parents that read. When reading is not a normal part of a child’s family life it’s a much bigger challenge for children to learn to read.
When my children were young and whenever my schedule allowed it I spent a lot of time in their class rooms volunteering. I am not a trained teacher. My kids teachers felt that the most useful thing I could do was to attempt one on one reading instructions with the kids that were lagging behind in their alphabets, begging reading etc. I assumed that it would help a bit but to my surprise the youngsters responded very quickly and very positively. I got a huge thrill out of watching their rapid progress and seeing their happiness as they gained a little confidence in their academic ability. I latter did similar sessions with math as my children progressed to higher grades.
Several times a year I run in to one of the students that I had the pleasure of tutoring and it’s always a thrill to have them tell me what a big difference my small bit of tutoring made in their lives and to see them doing well in their lives. If any readers can give a couple of hours a week to a local school I highly recommend that they try being a reading tutor. The return on your effort will exceed your most optimistic expectations.
One of the things that I was encouraged to see when I first started the “GoWithout” idea here is how many people shared how they decided to give of their time. Your suggestion is a great one!
When I was in fourth grade, there was young girl in my class that couldn’t read English, so my teacher would have me sit and read with her each day to help her learn. It was great, but I am sure she might have benefited more if there were adults volunteering to help.
Great idea, Amber! Last year when J and I went to Honduras, I discovered a horrible fact. The one library on Roatan won’t lend to teenagers due to stereotypes of them not being reliable. There are no new bookstores on the island and two microscopic used bookstores. So, during conversation with a lovely 14-year-old, I discovered she didn’t know that ANNE OF GREEN GABLES was more than a movie.
The sin! The sacrilege!!
So, when another friend was heading down there six months later, I loaded her up with the first three AGG books, as well as EMMA and LITTLE WOMEN. Essentially reading to any teen girl. Mission accomplished. =)
I love that!! Those are must haves.
The Lisa Libraries would happily accept gently used books and find good homes for them. Please visit our FB page at http://www.facebook.com/lisalibraries, and/or contact us –all contact information is on our website. We donate books to organizations working with underprivileged children and to organizations, schools and libraries whose book collections were damaged or destroyed by disasters.
That’s awesome! I will update the post to be sure that any who want to find homes for their gently used books know they can send them to you.
And for any of you wondering, when you ship items book rate, it’s really reasonable (I moved my books cross country that way and it was surprisingly low cost).
Sorry to be so late chiming in, but thank you so much for mentioning my blog and thank you for the guest post for tomorrow! You totally rock. I will be giving up my weekly Starbucks for the month of January – started already and haven’t been all month – so I can give to Kids Need to Read. Your Go Without Campaign is awesome!
Thank YOU for giving me another venue to speak about this, Rhonda!
Books have always been an essential part of my life. My parents have always been able to provide books and kept a well stocked library in our home. We’ve never lived close enough to a library to walk there so the school library and our bookmobile (library on wheels) were an important part of my life. I have taken great pains to share my love of reading with my children, the down side was that my little ones always wanted me to read to them (Dr. Suess) so I didn’t read a lot of my own books. That’s okay though because we instituted “read together” time where I read to all my children well into their teens. We read classics, fantasy, sci-fi and many good books. This was really helpful to my son who is dislexic and has a really hard time reading.
My childhood favorites: Granny’s Wonderful Chair, Bearentstien’s B Book (all my siblings and I can quote it from memory), Nancy Drew and Three Investigators.
Every year I go through my children’s private libraries and we choose books to give to local charities. I currently have two apple crates of used books ready to go. I will look into sending the ones in the best condition to the programs you have recommended. Thank you.
I love that you have read together time with your kids. My little boy loves when we read with him – to the point that he is reading OUR books with us.
Thank you for sharing your favorites – I’ve never heard of Granny’s Wonderful Chair. I’ll have to check it out!
And thank you for considering sending some books to a charity mentioned. Lisa Libraries accepts gently used, while Kids Need to Read I believe only accepts new (I’ll have to double check that). Either way, your donation will definitely be appreciated!