About Bring Me a Book

Bring Me a Book serves as a catalyst for community literacy. We help children grow a reading habit, by promoting book choice, supporting book access and family engagement, and partnering with certified librarians and the public library. When we help all children thrive through the joy and power of reading, we leverage literacy to create a more humane and hopeful world for us all.

We serve children, primarily from immigrant families in under-resourced communities. With the help of our Literacy Champions, who represent a national network of literacy experts— reading researchers, scholars, and expert practitioners, including teachers, administrators, and school librarians, we reach children in seven states and in Washington D.C.

Our work centers on achieving four goals:

Family Engagement: A love of reading begins in the home with families who understand the importance of establishing a home reading culture from the moment of birth.

Library Partnerships: We help our immigrant families understand that public libraries are replete with multi-media resources and literacy-rich programming that is free and available for their children.

Reader Agency and Choice: Children are twice as likely to read books they choose themselves. We help children grow an identity as a reader — and find and choose the books that match their own life interests.

Book Abundance: Children need books wherever they are—in under-resourced homes, preschools and schools, after-school programs, subsidized and transitional housing, health clinics—and when they are in foster care, in custody, and in the reading laps of teen parents.

We were honored to receive a Library of Congress Best Practice Award in 2019, which comes with the understanding that the awardee will share their innovative practices with other organizations and nonprofits. Thus, our primary aim is to share our best practices, refined over the 25 years we have served our local community, in a replicable, sustainable model that others—nonprofits, PTAs, health clinics, church groups, service organizations, etc.— can adopt and use as well to serve the children and families in their own neighborhoods.

WHO WE ARE

Bring Me A Book is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization founded in 1997 by former middle school English teacher turned CEO, Judy Koch. We are community literacy activists, working hand-in-hand with partners who share our passion for bringing the joy and transformational power of books to children. We harness the power of book access, reader agency, identity, and book choice— together with the community resources of the public library, the cornerstone of democracy —to create a Virtuous Cycle of Book Abundance and grow a nation of readers.

THE BRING ME A BOOK NATIONAL COLLABORATIVE
THE BRING ME A BOOK NATIONAL SCHOOL CONSORTIUM

WHAT WE DO

With support from a wide range of partners, Bring Me A Book helps schools and organizations that serve children overcome book scarcity and bring book abundance to all children Our book access partners include school and public libraries, First Book, and socially responsible, revenue-sharing, start-up Bookelicious, founded by Lea Anne Borders. The revenue we earn through Bookelicious helps fund books for the children we serve, creating a Virtuous Circle of Support. As a result, we’re able to bring books to children in under-resourced preschools and daycare centers, libraries, medical clinics, homeless shelters, Boys and Girls Clubs, and, indeed, any place where children are served.

HOW WE DO IT

We follow the “best practices” of community literacy—1) we respond to the needs of the community; 2) we invite community participation, and 3) we work to ensure that our efforts are sustainable, helping children thrive for years to come. We seek civically-minded community partners and then help provide the resources they need to be successful.

PROGRAMS AND BEST PRACTICE GUIDES
LITERACY CHAMPION LITERACY ADVOCACY TOOLKITS

OUR CORE VALUES

EQUITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

At the core of every reader is a sense of self-identity that encompasses the reader’s sociocultural background, language, values, perspectives, and developing knowledge of the world. Literacy is a civil right and it begins with defining yourself as a reader and choosing the books that will help you shape and expand your identity. Having the agency to choose your own books and to craft a reading life that aligns with your identity is equity in action. All children deserve and have the right to enjoy books that reflect their language, culture, traditions, and the worlds in which they live.

THE WHOLE CHILD

We place children first. We focus on supporting their emerging language, literacy, numeracy, and their sense of self in the world. Additionally, we know that a robust reading life fosters imagination, expansive problem solving, and social emotional strength and resilience—all key aspects of the multi-faceted development of the whole child.

DIVERSITY

We can help our children develop greater empathy for others—including those who may not look like them or have the same beliefs as they do—by  sharing trade books,powerful instructional tools for introducing and celebrating diverse experiences, perspectives, and ways of knowing and being. In our increasingly diverse nation and interconnected global world, our children will thrive  to the extent that they are globally aware.

HUMAN POTENTIAL

We are community literacy advocates. Community literacy works best when it responds to community needs, invites community participation, and is sustainable. Literacy benefits the individual, the family, the community, and society at large.

THE JOY OF LEARNING

We are passionate about education, literacy, and the joy of learning for the children and communities we serve. All learners—children and adults alike—are most engaged when they have the agency to make their own choices about what and how they will learn.

INTEGRITY

We are committed to the highest ethical and professional standards in our work and relationships. Our community partners trust our word and value our ability to deliver programs in a conscientious and respectful way.

OUR AFFILIATES

BRING ME A BOOK

Franklin,

Florida

We strive to deliver high-quality programs grounded in research, knowledge, data, teamwork and a culture of continuous improvement. The success of BMAB is dependent on the quality of the team members employed by the organization and our valuing their contributions.

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BRING ME A BOOK

St. Louis,

Missouri

We are passionate about education and literacy readiness for the children, communities, and stakeholders we serve and strive to create an enjoyable experience and environment for learning.

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BRING ME A BOOK

Hong

Kong

We are committed to high ethical and professional standards in our work and relationships. Our stakeholders trust our word and ability to deliver programs in a conscientious and respectful way.

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