The Bold Bookmark

Earlier this year, I organized a book drive at my daughter’s elementary school. Amazingly, our community donated 1,482 books!

This is the second large book drive I’ve organized, and once again I was blown away by the students’ response.

One thing I’ve noticed in our own home is that while there are certain books my kids and I will treasure forever, there are many others we loved for a season and no longer revisit.

And honestly? That’s okay!

These books can become someone else’s new favorite!

Book Drive

Unfortunately, I broke my right foot just a few days before the drive began, which made the logistics a little more interesting. I’ll be forever grateful to my Mom, who drove me around, helped me go classroom-to-classroom collecting donations, and helped me sort all of these books by grade level.

Book Swap

The actual giveaway took place during the school’s STEAM night. We turned an entire corner of the multipurpose room in a book giveaway station. My daughter was an enormous help as I was still hobbling around in my walking boot during the event. 🙂

I’d been thinking about wrapping some “mystery books” as a fun surprise, but didn’t actually get to wrapping or decorating them until the afternoon of the event. I’ve never wrapped faster, but with a spurt of inspiration, I got 20 books wrapped in butcher paper and after we set out all the books and before the event began, my daughter, the PTSA President’s daughter, and I were able to get all 20 books decorated! Could they have been more detailed and planned out? Undeniably. Were they a hit with the kids and parents regardless? Absolutely!

My favorite part of the night was simply getting to talk with students about books. Since we’re new to this elementary school, it was my first real opportunity to hear what these kids love to read, what excites them, and what kinds of stories they’re searching for. There were so many enthusiastic young readers, and I think we were able to send a lot of students home with books they were genuinely excited about.

Learnings

Next time, I’ll keep the restock boxes much closer to our tables. My poor walking boot strongly seconds this. 😉

I’d also probably avoid using the word “swap,” since some families assumed students needed to bring a book in order to participate or were limited in how many books they could take.

Most importantly, I’d love to expand future giveaways into the school day as well, so that all students — not just those able to attend evening events — have access to the books.

Nonetheless, a ton of students were able to walk out of this event with multiple books in hand. So for my first books-related event at this school, I’m going to consider it a success!

Next Steps

Our next giveaway will take place during the school’s end-of-year Field Day, where I’ll once again be setting up tables full of books and hopefully helping even more students discovery stories they can’t wait to read!