Books for Keeps

Since 2009, Books for Keeps (BFK) has given more than 775,000 books to children in grades Pre-K through 12 as well as their communities. For 10 months of the year, we collect, inspect, sort, and box books, only to give them all away each spring. Books we can’t use are given away at our annual Community Book Fair each fall. Books for Keeps’ primary program is a research-based effort to end “summer slide,” the learning loss suffered by many children when they are away from school. Children from low-income families are disproportionately affected by this loss, often due to a simple lack of access to books. Many children cannot or do not access their public libraries for reasons related to geography, transportation, or something as simple as an inability to pay fines for lost books. By middle school, the children from these families may be three grade-levels behind their peers. That gap is nearly insurmountable, and negatively affects their chances of graduating high school. Books for Keeps bridges the gap by giving them books – high-quality, exciting books with contemporary titles. It’s a strategy proven to have a similar impact to attending summer school, but at a fraction of the cost.