Books for Keeps blog

It’s that time – sign up to volunteer to help us give away 72,000 books this spring!

It’s what we’ve all been waiting for here at Books for Keeps – distribution time! And this year is our biggest distribution season yet. We’ve been working the past 11 months toward giving away 72,000 books to 6,000 kids in Athens, Atlanta, Warrenton, and Elberton this spring!

Join fellow volunteers by helping children select and count their books, and record their feedback about our book selection. This is the ultimate volunteer experience! Share in the joy of a Books for Keeps distribution by signing up to volunteer with us.

No special skills are required; training is provided in the first 10 minutes of each shift – so the most important requirement is to show up on time! To sign up as an individual, go to our sign-up.com page!

If you are part of a group that would like to adopt an entire shift (8 to 12 volunteers), please email Leslie Hale to sign up. Available shifts will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Sign-ups are now open to the general public, so if there’s a special school or special day when you’d like to volunteer, please don’t delay!

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Oglethorpe Avenue Elementary School – Athens, GA
Monday, April 24th: 7:50 a.m. – 11:25 a.m. (ONLY ONE SPOT LEFT) | 11:45 a.m. – 1:50 p.m. (SHIFT FULL)
Tuesday, April 25th: 9:15 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. (SHIFT FULL) | 12:20 p.m. – 2:50 p.m. (SHIFT FULL)

Barnett Shoals Elementary School – Athens, GA
Wednesday, April 26th: 8:15 a.m. – 10:35 a.m. (SHIFT FULL) | 11:10 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. (SHIFT FULL)
Thursday, April 27th: 9:00 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.(SHIFT FULL) | 11:45 a.m. – 2:45 p.m. (SHIFT FULL)

Winterville [...]

The Books for Keeps bi-annual book drive is happening now!
Twice a year, Books for Keeps organizes community-wide book drives to help collect books for both our program and our annual book sale. We would like to thank our partner organizations who are hosting book drives currently:

Athens First Bank & Trust
UGA American Medical Student Association
Keep Athens-Clarke County Beautiful
Sigma Tau Delta at UNG
Girl Scout Troop 12050
Rocky Branch Elementary School
Ebenezer Baptist Church West
Friends and Neighbors of Camilla Bracewell
First Presbyterian Church
Junior League of Athens
Double Helix STEAM School
Allstate Insurance, Merryn Walker
Clarke Central High School
Friends and Neighbors of Mary Madden
Leon Farmer & Company
Pi Beta Phi at UGA
Learning Ally
Friends and Neighbors of Gina Gallois

If you or your friends and family have books to donate, feel free to drop them off at one of these sites that are open to the public. Note- the Clarke County High School and Double Helix donation sites are only available to students and staff.

Book drives are a critical part of what we do, and they would not be possible without your help. And don’t be discouraged- there’s never a bad time to host a book drive! Though we organize community-wide book drives twice a year, we are happy to help coordinate a book drive at any point during the year, as we are always accepting donations. (And if you can’t make it to one of these locations – or have books to donate during another time of year – our community-wide drop-off sites are always accepting books!)

Email info@booksforkeeps.org if you’re interested [...]

It’s time to save the date for 2017 Books for Keeps distributions, and this year is our biggest yet! With help from our wonderful volunteers, we’ll be giving away nearly 75,000 books to more than 6,000 children at a record 15 schools in Athens, Atlanta, Warrenton, and Elberton. This is your chance to experience the joy of students eager to pick out 12 free books for summer- and for keeps!

School-specific volunteer shifts will be scheduled in March, and we will announce when they have been finalized. If you are an individual who would like to volunteer at a specific school, please mark your calendar!

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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 or on a specific day, please email Louis Crow to reserve a shift for your group.

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April 24-25, 2017: Oglethorpe Avenue Elementary School- Athens, GA
April 26-27, 2017: Barnett Shoals Elementary School- Athens, GA
April 28, 2017: Winterville Elementary School- Winterville, GA
May 1-2, 2017: Gaines Elementary School- Athens, GA
May 2, 2017: Alps Road Elementary School- Athens, GA
May 3-4, 2017: Howard B. Stroud Elementary School- Athens, GA
May 4, 2017: Downtown Academy- Athens, GA
May 5, 2017: M. E. Freeman Elementary School- Warrenton, GA
May 8-9, 2017: Elbert County Primary School- Elberton, GA
May 10, 11 and 15, 2017: Whitehead Road Elementary School- Athens, GA
May 12, 2017: Cleveland Road Elementary School- Athens, GA
May 15-16, 2017: Fowler Drive Elementary School- Athens, GA
May 17-18, 2017: J.J. Harris Elementary School- Athens, GA
May 19, 2017: Dunbar Elementary School- Atlanta, GA
May 23, 2017: Benteen Elementary School- Atlanta, GA

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We look forward to seeing you [...]

It is with much excitement that we announce the hiring of Louis Crow, who will join Books for Keeps as program manager next month when Rachel Watkins steps down.

Louis comes to Books for Keeps after having earned his Bachelor of Social Work degree from UGA. Louis has deep roots here, born and raised in Athens and a graduate of Clarke County Schools. He has a background in mentoring children with Project Safe, serving Athens’ aging adults with the Athens Community Council on Aging, and volunteering with Community Connection in assessing local needs. In his free time, Louis enjoys woodworking and spending time with his wife and pets.

Louis joins Books for Keeps as the organization is on the cusp of a 14-school expansion over the next three years. Louis’ primary responsibilities will be managing volunteers and fostering relationships with the schools and districts where Books for Keeps serves. He will additionally help grow Books for Keeps’ relationships with publishers as the organization broadens its selection and inventory, toward a goal of giving away 140,000 books annually by 2019. Welcome, Louis!

Outgoing Program Manager Rachel Watkins, who joined the Books for Keeps team in January of this year, is moving on to help Athens partner Avid Bookshop establish a second location in the Five Points neighborhood. Rachel will be missed, and has promised to come back as a volunteer next spring. Best of luck, Rachel!

On March 31, 2016 we officially announced a partnership with former UGA wide receiver and reading advocate Malcolm Mitchell.

We are so excited to share the details of that partnership here. Our press release announcing the initiative – to give a copy of Malcolm’s book, The Magician’s Hat, to every first-grade student in the Clarke County School District – is below.

To make a donation to this initiative, please visit our Donate page. Make sure to designate your gift toward the Read with Malcolm partnership when you donate. And thanks!

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BOOKS FOR KEEPS PARTNERING WITH MALCOLM MITCHELL TO SPREAD THE MAGIC OF READING TO ATHENS FIRST-GRADERS

ATHENS, GA. – March 31, 2016 –Books for Keeps and former UGA wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell are launching a partnership to ignite a passion for reading in Athens students.

Together, Mitchell and the Athens-based nonprofit plan to provide a copy of Mitchell’s book, The Magician’s Hat, to every first-grade student in the Clarke County School District this spring. Read with Malcolm and Books for Keeps are working together to raise the funds necessary to provide books to all 1,200 first-grade students in Clarke County this May – a $15,000 fundraising endeavor – and are calling on the community’s support.

“The only boundaries are those we create for ourselves,” Mitchell said. “I truly believe that books give kids the opportunity to reach their full potential, to expand their minds and accomplish all of their goals.”

Mitchell published his book after discovering and nurturing a love for reading while he was a student-athlete at The University of Georgia. After struggling to improve his own reading level, he joined a book club and was overwhelmed by the way that reading united him with other people and sharpened his [...]