Frequently Asked Questions

We know that reading well is essential for the future prospects of a child. Anyone who does not read at level by fourth grade will never catch up, and this has life-long implications. By helping children develop good reading attitures and behaviors during their early school grades, we hope to help them toward a better future.

We do not select individual children in our community but entire schools. The statistics of our schools, including their demographics, the academic achievement of the students, and much more are a matter of public record. By supporting the entire school, our work can have the greates long-term impact. It also means that no child at the school is left out. 

The earlier in life children develop strong literacy skills, the greater their chance at success later in life. We also believe it may take years for a child to develop good reading habits, so we supply high-quality books to each child in Kindergarten and second and third grades (and their teachers). Having books at home and readily available can make the difference between a child reading a book or not.  

A majority of the students we serve live in poverty and experience a range of disadvantages that make reaching public resources a challenge. Parents working multiple jobs, often lacking reliable transportation and the means to learn of programs available to them, combined with the typical service hours of our library make it a challenge to readily have books available when children have unscheduled time. To have books available at any time and at arm's reach can be a game changer in a child's re

We are always in search of volunteers. This may include filling an open board position or helping with occasional work, such as staffing a table at an event, helping in our fundraising efforts, or joining our team to tutor children in reading. Please complete our contact form on the main page of this site or email us at info@planting-books.org. We will follow up with you to determine what would work best. 

We are committed to putting high-quality books into the hands of children who might otherwise not have reading materials. If you have new or very gently used, recently published children's books to donate, please contact us. We will make an appointment to meet with you.

What we do not accept: 

Discarded library books

Books with torn, dog-eared, or marked-up pages