With all the distressing news floating around these days – the crisis at the border, the precarious state of our environment, the nasty political rhetoric we see every day – I’m craving something positive.
And guess what? I found it! And it’s bookish!
One of my favorite quotes is:
It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness.
William L. Watkinson
Authors like Jarrett Lerner (The Enginerds) and Ann Braden (The Benefits of Being an Octopus) are doing just that. They have been busy lighting candles for kids by putting books in their hands. It started with Braden, who was moved by the frustrated tweets of teachers and librarians worried about students who wouldn’t have anything to read over the summer. They were concerned about something educators call “summer slide” – a drop in reading skills caused by limited access to books when school is out.
Braden, a former teacher, wanted to do something to stop summer slide, so she combed through her bookshelves and gathered a stack of books to donate to teachers. She used tweets with the hashtag #KidsNeedBooks to find interested teachers and bring awareness to the problem.
Lerner saw Braden’s tweets and searched through his own collection of books to find titles to give away. On his author website, Lerner explains, “All the books were ones that I had read and enjoyed, even loved, and that I had purchased with the intent of having them on my shelves forever. But as soon as I considered the fact that there were a tremendous number of young readers out there who, for one reason or another, were facing the prospect of being book-less all summer long, it wasn’t very hard to part with even the most beloved of these books.”
Other authors have joined in, and thanks to the #KidsNeedBooks movement, over 500 books have been put into the hands of kids who otherwise wouldn’t have read all summer.
Wow. I love that this is so simple, and so accessible for Word Nerds like us. I’ve got tons of books sitting around the house that my kids have enjoyed but will probably not read again. I used to think I would save all of them for my grandchildren, but Lerner is right – there are kids who need those books now. Currently, Runaway Ralph is just collecting dust in my house. He could be in the hands of a child who would love to not only to read a book, but to actually own it.
Sure, there are beloved titles I will keep, but I could easily donate the others. It would be like lighting a bunch of candles.
Lerner says that he collects books throughout the year – at library sales, industry conferences, etc – to give away to teachers at the end of school. He suggests that people who want to join the #KidsNeedBooks movement can donate their unneeded books to Little Free Libraries or schools and libraries that serve needy children. My town has a Little Free Library and also many children who probably don’t have books at home. I’m late for this summer, but I can start preparing for the end of next school year. And I know a teacher and a librarian who will help me get those books into the hands of kids who need them.
It’s time to clean out! I hope this good news will make your weekend a little brighter, and that you will be inspired to light a candle yourself.
For more information on #KidsNeedBooks, visit Jarrett Lerner’s website or Ann Braden’s website.
Have you heard of the #KidsNeedBooks movement? Would you be willing to donate books?
Thanks for getting nerdy with me!
