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Books First
Please know that by donating books to us you are making an incredible difference in the lives of Chicago's most underserved students. BooksFirst! is a collaboration of 3 regular Chicago families---just like yours. You can read more about us on our website: http://www.booksfirstchicago.org
We welcome the following (in sturdy bags if possible.):
- Gently loved kids' books board books through 8th grade (including comic books!)
- Gently loved backpacks. This is the most expensive item for students' families to purchase, and many kids' families cannot afford them.
- Gently loved basketballs and soccer balls, since many of our recipient schools lack these items.
We use our own homes to store books, so to learn more about the details for dropping off books at any of the following sites, please click on the appropriate e-mail to get the auto-reply specific to that site:
1) BooksFirst! Edgewater at booksfirstedgewater@gmail.com
2) BooksFirst! NorthCenter at booksfirstnorthcenter@yahoo.com
You've done so much, but if you have the time, please consider:
1) Please "friend" us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BooksFirst and share our announcements on your own FB page.
2) Consider becoming a BookFirst! Transport Angel. If you time during schools hours and can accommodate a carload of books, we'd love to add you to our list of angels willing to pick up books at our drop off homes and take them to our recipient schools. To learn more, just send an e-mail to this address with your name/phone number.
Since January 2012, Chicago area families have donated over 70,000 books to help create libraries in 63 CPSchools for over 30,000 students. Many of these students are homeless....school may be their only opportunity to discover books. We have only 135 more schools to go, so please keep us in mind in the future!
95% of the kids interfacing with the juvenile justice system are functionally illiterate. Yet while the average middle class child has 30 books, in low income communities there is one book (yes, one) for 300 kids. What you are doing makes a profound and enduring difference.