Our Mission
Is to promote literacy, by moving books from the shelves of the ex-user, into the hands of the end-user.
Sounds simple…
Get books off of shelves, keep them out of landfills, and get them to people. Move screens into pockets, and put books in hands.
It should be simple. Educators, librarians, and all sorts of people who love books and knowledge have been doing this for years and decades, with glorious success.
But, our world is no longer simple.
Read more…
Societal norms, communication modalities, technology, globalization, economics…our entire life experience is changing more rapidly than any one person or organization can keep up with.
The population demographics between communities just 5 miles apart are vastly different. The effect of the covid isolation years on our kids and teens will be long lasting, and has had a domino effect. The economic fragility of our current government structure is leaving long-standing programs un-funded. The rapidly accelerating “easy and now” culture is changing how folks access and use books.
There are so many people out there, who have knowledge, experience, insight. There are so many resources, so many books, so many people who want to volunteer. Right now, all of these groups, educators, resources, are operating in isolation. And that has worked for a long time. People know what their own community or target group needs, so they concentrate their efforts on serving their own community.
But now, in this changing world, we need to join together. We need to coordinate, share resources, knowledge, ideas. This is where we come in.
Books in Hand sees a vital need, an unfilled niche, and we will strive to fill it. Our goal is to help with this coordination. To help create a network between all of the valuable people and organizations doing this work. Our goal is to create an easy way for one group to say “This isn’t working” and another group to say “We have a solution to that!” For one group to say “We have too much of this” and another group to say “We need exactly that!”
What does that mean in practicality? Well, to start, it means forming personal connections. Meeting people. Learning. Finding out how it all works now. Figuring out where the gaps are, and where the excesses. Starting a wee, little distribution network between various organizations. Accepting modest amounts of books, and redistributing them.
Later, it will grow. The communication network will become formalized with an online forum and database system. There will be teams of volunteers, who move books around the Bay Area, based on demographic need. Maybe, at some point, there will even be a brick-and-mortar warehouse, where anyone can donate any amount of books, and where any end-user organization or educator can come and pick up hundreds or thousands, when they need them.
Recent Updates
We have made exciting goal-directed progress in November and December!
- We traded some very esoteric scholarly books to Moe’s Books in Berkeley, and earned just under $1200 in store credit! We re-distributed the credit to four local high school libraries, in addition to bringing boxes of books to the libraries to supplement their collections. (To be totally pedantic, the tail-end of the distribution will happen in January, just after the holiday break.) We gave (will be giving) to: El Cerrito, De Anza, Kennedy, and Richmond High Schools.
- We have registered with Little Free Library as a book supplier for any LFL stewards, and have already started furnishing to LFLs
- We have established a relationship with Prisoners Literacy Project, and supplied 6 boxes of books to supplement their distribution collection
- We have donated 8 boxes of books to various Friends of the Library groups
- We are giving storage and work space to West County Reads, a partner organization that supplies books to children. Robin, who runs the org has been a super-helpful mentor and support.
What we need
Do you want to help out? Here is what we currently need most:
- Volunteers – do you love books? We need help! We need folks to sort books, pick up and deliver, and network with the community
- Web developer. The next goal is to set up a more professional website, with a forum section.
- Books! If you have “good or better” condition books to donate, we can take them for redistribution. We are particularly looking for high-school age-level books
- Outside-of-the-box ideas for places, groups, and events where we can distribute books
- Support and suggestions from folks who “have been doing this for a while.” This project is about you, and what you need – so your input is invaluable!
Join us on the Journey
Check back in every couple of days, for an exciting update!
