Books for Keeps blog

After concluding our biggest school distribution season ever AND our most successful book sale to date, we are looking back over the supporters who have made these endeavors possible. Each year, we are able to distribute tens of thousands of books to thousands of children thanks to donors like you. And Books for Keeps’s grade-level sponsors are a big part of that success!

Our grade-level sponsors are responsible for keeping an ENTIRE GRADE up to speed and reading all summer long! With a minimum contribution of $2,500, our grade-level sponsors can designate their gift for any grade they choose at any of the schools we serve. Keep reading to learn more about the 2017-2018 grade-level sponsors making a difference in our schools.

Celia Baker of IntelliGRACS Group is the longest standing of our grade-level sponsors. Not only has Celia continued to support our year-end giving campaign each year since our founding, her generosity is also responsible for the donation that made us an official 501c3! Her annual support is a powerful reminder that the work we do in the community isn’t just changing the lives of students, it is also inspiring other community members to get involved.

And Celia isn’t alone! Here is the full list of grade-level sponsors who have been inspired by our mission:

Wells Fargo Foundation
Exhibitus, Inc.
Jefferson Energy Cooperative Foundation
Georgia-Pacific Foundation
Joe Irving
Walton Electric Trust Foundation
100+ Women Who Care Athens
Todd & Lisa Van Meter
Classic City Rotary Club
Phicas Foundation
Bulldog 93.3

Are you or someone you know interested in becoming a sponsor? Check out our Sponsor Package for information on how we will recognize your gift.

It’s time to sign up to help with the 2018 Books for Keeps Annual Book Sale! Our book sale is the largest fundraiser that we execute as an organization, and the event helps us purchase brand new books to give away in schools.  Every year, more than 40,000 books are donated to Books for Keeps, and most of those are destined for our book sale. Every year, the book sale has around 800 Friday, August 17, 2018 atrons and raises over $20,000! If you’re interested in being a part of this incredible event, keep reading!

When volunteering with our book sale, we will have you greeting shoppers, organizing books, helping patrons with their shopping, and checking out shoppers! We will have both seated and standing tasks, but be sure to wear comfortable clothes and shoes. Please arrive a few minutes early for your shift, as there will be only a little overlap in volunteer sessions. See all available shifts listed below, and click the blue link to sign up!
Thursday, August 16, 2018 PREVIEW NIGHT 

evening shift only, 5:00pm – 8:00pm

Friday, August 17, 2018 

morning shift, 9:40am – 1:00pm
afternoon shift, 12:45pm — 4:15pm
evening shift, 4:00pm — 7:00pm

Saturday, August 18, 2018

morning shift, 9:40am – 1:00pm
afternoon shift, 12:45pm – 3:45pm
evening shift, 3:30pm — 6:30pm

Sunday, August 19, 2018

afternoon shift only, 11:40am – 4:30pm

Saturday, August 25, 2018

morning shift, 9:30am – 12:45pm [FULL] 
afternoon shift, 12:30pm – 3:30pm
evening shift, 3:15pm – 6:30pm

Sunday, August 26, 2018

afternoon shift, 11:40am – 4:00pm 
evening shift, 3:30pm – 6:30pm

It’s time to sign up for 2018 Books for Keeps distributions! Are you ready to be a part of our largest and most widespread book giveaways ever?! With the help of more volunteers than we’ve ever before had in a distribution season, we’ll be giving away 95,000 books to children at a record 18 schools in Athens, Atlanta, Warrenton, and Elberton. This is your chance to experience the joy of helping students in your community pick out 12 free books for summer – for keeps! 
School-specific volunteer shifts are listed below. Simply click the link for each school to be taken to the GivePulse signup page for that school.  Each shift will be listed individually under the respective school, and you can sign up for multiple shifts at one time.  Once you have registered for your shift,  you will receive an email confirmation.

If you are part of a group (8 to 15 people) that would like to adopt and work an entire shift at a particular school, you can also add group members by selecting the “register a group” option and adding the names and email address for each member of your group. Each individual will receive a link to complete registration, and they must follow that link to secure their spot. If you have questions or run into issue while signing up, please email Louis Crow at louis@booksforkeeps.org.

April 17-18, 2018: Dunbar Elementary School- Atlanta, GA
– April 17th morning shift, 8:45am – 10:40am[FULL] ;  afternoon shift, 11:15am – 1:30pm [FULL]
– April 18th morning shift, 9:00am – 11:55am; afternoon shift, 12:25pm – 2:45pm
April 23-24, 2018: Oglethorpe Avenue Elementary School- Athens, GA
– April 23rd morning shift, 7:45am – 11:25am; afternoon shift, 11:25am – 2:45pm [FULL]
– April [...]

And not just any books. Our friend Katie Johnson, a teacher with the Cedar Shoals Freshman Transition Camp, has worked hard to put together this incredible list for her students!

If you have any gently used copies of these books to donate, you can drop them off a Cedar Shoals High School or mail them, ATTN: Katie Johnson. The address is: 1300 Cedar Shoals Dr, Athens, GA 30605. The Books for Keeps team is donating the books pictured here, and are excited to see every book on this list in the hands of Athens students!

Here is the list of what is needed (it doesn’t have to be a certain edition):

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
Dime by E. R. Frank
Never Fall Down: A Novel by Patricia McCormick
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
The Well’s End by Seth Fishman
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina
November Blues (The Jericho Trilogy) by Sharon M. Draper
Hole in My Life by Jack Gantos
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
When I Was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Playground by 50 Cent
Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty by G. Neri
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Winger by Andrew Smith

From Katie:

In summer 2016, Cedar Shoals hosted this summer program to help students transition into high school. Part of this program was handing out lexile-level-appropriate books to students entering 9th grade at feeder middle schools, Hilsman and Coile. Before camp began, [...]

It must be event season here in Athens, because we have SO many great events coming up soon!  Spring is always a busy season for the Books for Keeps team, and 2018 is no exception. We always get so excited when a special event rolls around, but in the wake of the HUGE success of our Bunco for Books event, we can hardly contain our excitement!! Check out some of the incredible events we’re looking forward to:

February 15, 5-7pm – We’re honored to be hosting the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours event at our warehouse. We hope to see all current chamber members at the event!
February 20, 5-7pm – Chick-fil-A on Atlanta Highway will be hosting another family-centric, “Breakfast for Dinner” percentage night to benefit Books for Keeps. Some of our key volunteers will be hosting storytime in costume for the event. If you missed the last CFA storytime, be sure you don’t miss this one!
March 2, 8-11pm – It’s Casino Night at the Kappa house! This brand new event from our friends at KKG will be a fun evening of games for Kappas and friends, and all the proceeds will benefit Books for Keeps!
March 7, 7pm – The incredible team at Rabbit Box has invited Books for Keeps to be a part of the magic of storytelling with the March event, titled “A Life Well Read.” Come out to hear some incredible storytellers talk about how a specific book has impacted their lives, MC’d by BFK alum, Rachel Watkins!
March 22, 4:30-9pm –  Southern Brewing Company has been gracious enough to host a percentage night benefiting Books for Keeps. This will be [...]