by Pam Withers
When Tony and I co-founded Keen Readers, we wanted to be more than an information hub for parents and mentors of reluctant readers. We wanted to get books into the hands of youths who don't have as ready access to them as others.
So, thanks to our Publisher and Author Heroes* (more of whom are signing up every day), we have been boxing up donated new kids' books and we are just starting to send them out. Our first box went to Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Black Hills in South Dakota, a region that dominates the list of top-ten poorest counties in the United States. We're donating to needy schools that have Big Brother/Big Sister pairs, and the pair gets an author-autographed book to keep and read together, while their school library gets a box of much-needed books. We hope to repeat this across North America in coming months. This coming fall, when schools start up again, we hope to feature some photos and thank you letters from the schools and kids receiving these books.
Meanwhile, here's an email that arrived yesterday, warming our hearts.
"Your 101 books have been received. We have been sorting them and will distribute to several of the libraries in our low income area of town and also on the Pine Ridge Reservation. THANK YOU so much for allowing us to be a part of this project. The libraries are THRILLED and so are we!
Mary B. Victor, Executive Director, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Black Hills, Rapid City, S.D."
Publisher Heroes
Author Heroes
P.S. Did you read our feature last month on Big Brothers Big Sisters of America?
