Bright Star Books
Run a Reach for the Stars book drive
Book Drives are the lifeblood of Bright Star Books work, the key to helping us move thousands of books into the hands of thousands of local children. Within your neighborhood, place of work, school, place of worship, or any other community group, a great many families have dozens of children’s books that have been outgrown. By organizing a book drive for Bright Star Books, YOU can be the crucial bridge between children who need books and books that are in need of new children to read and love them!
Sign up! Once you have permission to run a book drive, send an email to info@brightstarbooks.org because we want to know about it! Please include your name and contact information, the book drive location (e.g. name of school, neighborhood, etc.) and the dates it will take place. If you are holding your book drive at a school, check out this list of ideas to help make it a success!
Tell everybody you know! (Twice). Download our sample language to use for an introductory email to announce your book drive – or craft something on your own. Make sure to announce your book drive about two weeks in advance to give people enough time to dig out those old boxes! Also, don’t forget to celebrate the day your drive gets started with an opening email (see sample language), and remind people when there are about three days leftto donate.
What to Donate! Bright Star Books primarily serves children ages 0-10. Therefore, we are mainly looking for donations of books appropriate for those ages: things like Board Books, Picture Books, Leveled Readers, and early Chapter Books. Also, please consider the condition of the books before sending them to BSB. Most of our donation sorting is done by volunteers, and it is a poor use of their time and enthusiasm to have to remove books no longer in any respectable condition to be given to a child.
Get your potential donors informed.People are more likely to want to participate in your book drive if they have a clear idea of where their books will be going. Download our overview flyer to hand out or send as a .pdf attachment to let people know about the work Bright Star Books does, where book donations go, and for information on how getting books into the hands and homes of children early in life can truly make a difference. Also please let them know that an in-kind donation receipt for book donations is available here.
Designate a donation shelf. Download and print a signto use on the donation boxes, bags, or shelves you will be using to collect and store used books. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy – a designated spot on the floor will do just fine! But keep in mind (and we’ve learned this from experience), the bigger the box or bag, the harder it is to carry once it’s full of books!
Bring us books! Bring us THE books!- But first, two things: one, please count the books you will be donating. It saves our team a TON of time, and ensures you are able to tell your donors the number in a timely manner
Give yourself a pat on the back! Or a big bear hug. Or have a dance party. Or post a selfie using the hashtag #IRock. Whatever you do, celebrate your accomplishment – because, thanks to your efforts, there will be many kids who will be excited to share a book with a loved one or read something new in the near future!