I'm a long-time donor to this fantastic grass-roots organization that works to get books into the homes and hands of young people who otherwise would have limited opportunities to do so. Literacy and education are one of the most important drivers of equity in our society - this organization recognizes the importance of early literacy intervention. I can't say enough good things about the volunteers who continue to push this mission forward.
The children’s book project is a tremendous resource for the community putting books in the hands of children. This organization has served over 265,000 children which is an extraordinary feat. The members of the organization are kind, caring and dedicated to the cause.
The Children’s Book Project is a wonderful organization that is making a real difference in the lives of children. By providing free books to underprivileged kids, they are fostering a love of reading and opening up a world of imagination and learning. Their commitment to literacy and equity is truly inspiring.
Watching a child pick a book is one of life’s greatest joys. And making that opportunity available to a child who hasn’t really had a chance to choose one before is an even greater joy. When you see a 4-year old clutch a book to their chest and dash off, your heart cracks open just a little bit.
Books, and a love of books, are the gateway to advancement in life. And there are very few programs that work to make sure that children have a fair chance at having books of their own to keep, especially in a child’s early formative reading years.
The Children’s Book Project is one of California’s most impactful organizations. It provides children books and makes them available in situations that multiply the positive effects of books, like making free books available in safety net health clinics. Children can get a book when they come to get their care. CBP makes books available for art projects and enables cash-strapped teachers to have books to supplement their lesson plans - books that children can use and keep.
Like a pebble tossed into a pond, a donation to the Children’s Book Project creates a ripple effect that spreads much further than you would expect. It is a phenomenal organization and an easy one to choose.
I first learned of the outstanding work of the Children's Book Project several years ago from two of CBP's passionate and dedicated board members.. As a parent of two children who were exposed to the transformative power of reading at an early age, I know how much a love of reading is a predictor for later success. I also know that access to books is much more difficult for children from low-income households than children of more affluent households.
Children's Book Project, fueled by the tireless efforts of a solid cadre of volunteers and donors, has successfully opened up the world of reading to thousands of children for whom books are a luxury. This small nonprofit organization has, for many years, enriched young lives and helped economically disadvantaged kids have a chance to build a foundation for lifelong learning and enjoyment. .
In 2024, this 34 year-old nonprofit, the Children's Book Project, put 140,000 books in the hands of children, hosted elementary school fields trips at their Book Bank so kids could interact with children's book authors and illustrators, gave art supplies so kids can write and illustrate their own books, built little books houses and kept them stocked in neighborhoods with limited access to books, delivered books public health clinics, provided Read Aloud books to professionals who mentor parents to read aloud to their young kids, and did ALL OF THAT FOR FREE. Every book is for free and for keeps. Every program is free. At one Storytime field trip, an elementary school child walked through the Book Bank towards the reading area and said "Do you have all the books in the world?" and another, after working with an author and illustrator and receiving a signed book to keep, walked through the Book Bank back toward their yellow school bus and said "I want to be a writer." This nonprofit is a California treasure and needs support to continue giving kids free books who have little to no access to books.
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The Children's Book Project is an amazing Bay Area nonprofit that has given over 3.1 million high quality books to children and families, always for free, and always for keeps, since 1992. Very helpful and experienced staff help educators and staff from organizations serving under-resourced families select age-appropriate books for their constituency. As a San Francisco Chronicle journalist wrote, this organization finds books without children and gives them to children without books FOR FREE. Donate new or gently-used books to this treasure of an organization, the Children's Book Project, or donate funds for the staff to buy at deep discounts books for children, and help promote literacy in the greater Bay Area.
I was recently impressed to hear about a gradeschooler who was excitedly choosing a few books for himself when he requested that one of the things would be a picture book for his much younger sibling. I thought this was a good sign that the project goals were getting across because obviously he was interested in the idea of some books at home
What a great nonprofit! It helps get books to children who otherwise might never have the opportunity to own books of their own. That helps foster a love of reading which in turn helps their future in immeasurable ways. Plus it helps ruse books and save them from being thrown away or recycled!
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The Children's Book Project is a fantastic non-profit that changes the lives of children, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds who have little or no access to books and reading. It provides books for free to teachers, daycare centers and other places where these children can then have their very own books for the first time. The Children's Book Project gathers and maintains a repository of books for children of all ages, including some in other languages, for teachers and others to come and collect books for the children they work with. It is a truly inspiring organization.
The Children's Book Project is a national treasure! Where do you find book donations to teachers and students that are for the students to keep and are tailored to specific interests and literacy levels? I have watched teenagers pick up these books, not really intending to read the whole book, only to come back the next day expounding on what new information or perspectives they have learned and how they might apply these.
Teachers from all over Northern California come to The Children's Book Project for books, ideas, and lasting relationships.
I came to know the Children’s Book Project when my wife started getting books for the children in the public clinic where she worked. I was so impressed with the stories of delight that I have become involved myself, giving books, writing fundraising letters, volunteering at events. What a great way to fight back against the darkness elsewhere in our country and the world.
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I started out being a "client" of the book project, getting books for my underserved patients, then I became a volunteer and a donor. Seems this is a pathway that the book project inspires to those who see what magic they do.
If I could give the Children's Book Project 20 stars I would!
My program works with some of the most under-served and most marginalized families in San Francisco. We work with prenatal mothers/expecting families, foster families, families with young children from birth to 36 months; many of whom are experiencing homelessness, currently occupy transitional housing or share tight communal spaces. For most, English is not their first language, families ask for early literacy tools to help them provide enriched interactions with their babies, and to help build language skills with the whole family.
Age appropriate and developmentally appropriate board books/sensory books for little ones can be hard to come by. The Children's Book Project staff are incredibly patient and attentive; staff are super active listeners in helping to find books to best fit our program families' needs. The amazingly friendly staff really help us providers and educators support our families with books that make reading truly enjoyable and fun for all. We love the Children's Book Project and honestly cannot thank the team enough for their generous contributions to the community and continuing to help make books accessible and free for our families and babies.
I am a supporter and seasonal volunteer with the Children's Book Project and have followed their impressive work in the SF Bay Area. Over 3 million books is very impressive! I have met several board members and other volunteers who are all working so effectively to help this wonderful organization grow as a community service that is so needed. It gets better every year. Books for kids and teachers - yay!
Children's Book Project is extraordinary because we focus on one goal: getting books into the hands of children FOR KEEPS. As our reputation has spread, we have been lucky to receive funding so that we not only distribute donated books, but can also purchase the types of books that are not often donated, such as bilingual and other culturally appropriate books. Our reach has also increased, allowing us to distribute through community service organizations. We have given away over 3 MILLION books since 1992 and over 100,00 books this year.
When I was in San Francisco, I visited the children’s book project, and I was very impressed with the quality of the items for donation and the knowledgeable staff
This nonprofit does superb work for children and their caregivers that do not have books enough to read. Many people take books and reading for granted, but many children do not have reading materials. A super service for the children of San Francisco. Essential.
The Children’s Book Project is a wonderful organization led and ran by the kindest people I have ever met. I appreciate their transparency and openness in which they operate. They provide a service that is very valuable to our community. Literacy is an important way to provide children with confidence and success, which is why this nonprofit deserves all the accolades.
The children's book project is really a one of a kind organization. I love the way that they truly serve community needs without an agenda--it's such a simple idea. When you look around Bay area classrooms and other spaces for kids, it's kind of amazing to think that so many of the books nourishing our young minds are coming from this small-but-mighty organization.
The children’s book project is an extraordinary project, collecting books, and then giving them away free to teachers , daycare centers, Jails and other institutions. Thank you very much for allowing me to give my books a new life. We need more nonprofits like this one.
A great organization for helping children with books and reading. In particular the goal of directly helping children own their own books - not just lending them - is a huge driver for gains in literacy in underserved populations. I'm a board member and have been for over 10 years - purely because I believe in the work that we are doing.
I’ve seen this organization persevere and grow over many years, always committed to sharing the love of reading with everyone. It’s such a simple concept but takes so much dedication to collect, organize and distribute books to anyone who walks in the doors. Free access to books is a great educational equalizer, but that’s not all the Book Project provides. At their anniversary party they celebrated with free eye exams and glasses, food and entertainment for all. It’s a community treasure.
The impact of the Children's Book Project in my community has been nothing short of transformative. As someone who was fortunate to receive books from them for our kids, I've witnessed firsthand the joy and eagerness to learn they've ignited. Many children here, who previously had no books at home, now have stories to dive into and worlds to explore. Their genuine dedication to bridging the literacy gap shines through in every book they provide. Thanks to them, the young ones in our community are discovering the magic of reading, setting them on a path to brighter futures. A heartfelt thank you to this incredible organization!
On several occasions, I've gone to the Children's Book Project to pick up many books for children who otherwise would not have access to such a rich array of books. Every time, I have found the staff and volunteers there to be incredibly helpful with finding books. In particular, they made a great effort to help me find books in Spanish. It can be difficult to find books with illustrations of Black and Brown children.
I found many here. This is an organization that provides a huge concrete benefit to the children of the Bay Area.
The Children's Book Project has been essential for our Mission Promise Neighborhood success in hosting our annual Holiday Book Giveaway. The event promotes literacy to children, youth, and families who live and attend school in San Francisco's Mission District. We are able to secure 500+ books for over 400 children 0-18 years old. The staff is friendly and helpful in ensuring children's access to books.
A fantastic resource for getting free books to kids who need them. A warm staff doing great work for the community.
The Children's Book Project is an amazing organization that is here to help the children that need them most. I have been a children specialist for a few years, and I know that access to books is so important in a child's learning journey. The Children's Book Project is here to make sure that as many low-income children as possible have access to quality books that they want to read whenever they want to read them.
I learned about the amazing work of Children's Book Project in my capacity as an early literacy advocate, mother of a young child and member of their Read Aloud Program from 2017 through 2021. My role in the Read Aloud Program was to bring books from CBP to the families who needed them the most. It was also an opportunity to learn from Melanie and the guests speakers about the science of language development and the importance of creating a literacy-rich environment, with the purpose of empowering parents in their own reading experiences with their children.
In my current position as an Early Learning Specialist Coach with Mission Promise Neighborhood, CBP has been instrumental in providing many of the books MPN gives away each year, especially during the winter holiday season. CBP also gives free books to other nonprofits serving low-income families throughout the city.
The Children's Book Project provides a much-needed service to our low-income communities in San Francisco. I consider their work to be of the utmost importance, especially during the post-pandemic recovery. I look forward to collaborating with Children's Book Project for many years to come!
We are so lucky to have Children's Book Project in our community...empowering our children, especially those in need, by providing free books to families, educators, daycares, clinics and other organizations who serve our children.
For 30 years the Children's Book Project has given away free books to teachers and community organizations for hundreds of thousands of low income children in 20 California counties. Our mission is to give books to children who need them for equity in literacy, learning and life. High quality books are available for infants up to late teens and there is no limit on the number of books that can be taken.
They are incredible!!! Making sure that books get into the hands of those who need them most. They make sure they have a large variety of books, and that all populations are represented
The Children’s Book Project’s mission is to give free books to children who need them and free literacy resources to their educators and families for equity in literacy, learning, and life. Since 1992, we have given away over 3 million books to children in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond, to keep, and always for free.
Some of these kids, now grown, are among the educators, social workers, nurses, doctors, and staff of organizations who visit our Book Bank to get books for children who need more books of their own.
At our wonderful, free 30th Anniversary Community Celebration on October 15th, our founder Vicki Pollack gave our 3 millionth children’s book to community partner Latino Task Force.
In addition, San Francisco's Mayor, London Breed, issued a Proclamation that October 15th, 2022 was officially Children's Book Project Day, in honor of 30 years of service to the community.
Nearly 500 local residents, including 300 children, joined us for festivities outside our Book Bank that featured enthralling presentations by Bay Area children’s book authors Hope Lim, Diana Kapp, Gennifer Choldenko, Nina LaCour, Nidhi Chanani, JaNay Brown-Wood, and Meg Fleming.
Community partners Vision To Learn provided free vision screenings, eye exams, and glasses for underserved children, and 18 Reasons encouraged kids to taste and describe fresh fruits and vegetables.
More than 50 volunteers, including moms and daughters from National Charity League Crystal Springs, offered delicious food, engaging family activities, and gave away nearly 800 beautiful, free books!
We welcome donation of children's books (ages 0-18), corporate and individual volunteers, and financial donations (https://www.childrensbookproject.org/donate/), as well as new educators and community organizations to come make an appointment at our Book Bank in San Francisco's Bayview district to select high quality new or like-new books for the families and children served (always for free) -- make an appointment here (https://www.childrensbookproject.org/get-books/).
Amazing, caring staff. They distribute donated books to teachers, clinics, home health care workers, daycare centers and others who can give them away to children who have no books at home. The books are theirs to keep! When the pandemic started and schools were closed, they delivered books to the places where children or families gathered: food lines, recreation centers. The have given away 3 MILLION books in the last 30 years.
I work at a non-profit community health center in Oakland, California and the Children's Book Project has supplied new and gently used books for us to give to children and teens. We serve a multi-cultural population and have appreciated being able to share books in different languages, allowing parents to read with their kids.
The staff at this organization are wonderful and so dedicated to their work! The book bank is run beautifully, and it’s inspiring to hear about the impact of this important resource for teachers and other nonprofits in our community.
This was the brain child of one of my oldest friends, Vicki Pollack. We know children must read and reread to become lifelong learners. We know children must be read to. Vicki did something about it. She began asking her friends and their friends to donate books their kids were done with. She then found ways to redistribute them to parents and children who needed books in their lives. The project grew and grew. The space she created now looks like a bookstore. Teachers and parents from around the Bay Area come to pick up free books. It is amazing to think of the many children whose bedrooms and internal lives this project has developed. It is still going strong. It should be modeled nationally.