Launching Children Into a World of Reading
By Lorena Koppel: Volunteer I had an awesome time representing BookSpring this weekend at the Community Connections Resource Fair, sponsored by Austin Energy! The fair featured over one hundred vendors and representatives of businesses and organizations, and showcased local artisans and performers. With BookSpring, I was able to spread awareness about the importance of child […]
by Emily Ball Cicchini, Executive Director This coming “hindsite is 20/20” year promises to be landmark one for BookSpring and for all the partners and families with children we serve. Wouldn’t it be great if we could know now what we’ll know in the future? Well, we can’t! The best we can do is pay […]
With the 20 Books by 2020 initiative under way, the need for books to distribute through our programs with healthcare (Rx), education (Ed), and community (Go) partners. It is these partnerships that allow us to reach children and families in need across Central Texas. Two of our greatest supporters in launching children into a […]
We are thrilled to be a recipient of the MAXIMUS Foundation grant! With this grant, we will give families in Central Texas an infusion of 20 books to kickstart their home libraries and promote the importance of reading together every day. “Making a deep and meaningful impact on a community is no easy feat, but […]
When we highlighted Luke Arney last year, we knew he was special. We are so glad he has received this additional community-wide recognition! Luke has dedicated himself to improving his community since he began high school when he first volunteered and collected books for BookSpring. The young philanthropist chose to advocate for literacy because he […]
BookSpring staff and partners have become accustomed to eagerly anticipating the second Thursday in May! Keller Williams Realty International (KWRI) is partnering with BookSpring for the fifth year in a row for their annual worldwide day of service, RED Day. RED Day, which stands for Renew, Energize and Donate, is a special day when Keller […]
By: Zachary Krakauer Ganz and Lydia Heisel In this digital age, some teens might not consider a book drive to be a “novel” idea. But for a group of five sophomores in Austin High School’s Global Studies program, BookSpring’s “20 books by 2020” challenge recently proved to be an inspiring and rewarding experience. Tasked with […]
Teresa Hanan is a native Texan from Pasadena. When she is not busy building early literacy in Central Texas, the UT alum enjoys cooking and gardening in her spare time. Teresa began volunteering as a community reader last Spring. Although, she is no stranger to working directly with children. Teresa has a background as a […]
By Amanda Shaver, Community Partner Manager Wayne Glander, or “Justin Beaver” as he is known to the students he encounters while driving around town delivering books, has been instrumental to BookSpring’s literacy efforts in the community for the past ten years. Wayne has done everything from helping with the initial painting of the BookSpring buildings […]
By Lori Butler, The Junior League of Austin In this month of sharing thanks and giving back, I pride myself on being able to accomplish this year round as an active member of The Junior League. Fortunately, this year I was able to secure a role in working hand in hand with BookSpring, an Austin-based nonprofit […]
By: Gauri Dhruva, BookSpringGo Volunteer Signing up to be a Community Reader through BookSpring was a unique experience and I am very glad I got to be a part of it. I will admit that in the beginning, I was a bit hesitant to volunteer because this was an activity that required a lot of […]
Literacy First is an esteemed AmeriCorps program in the Austin community. Since 1994, Literacy First has worked to ensure that children in Central Texas are successful readers before third grade. Not only do these AmeriCorps members provide intensive one-on-one and small group literacy intervention at various Title 1 schools, they also give their time to […]
Macy Wehman, of National Charity League, is pictured reading aloud at the Rosewood Apartment Community Center. Keeping the minds and bodies of families fed is part of the Housing Authority City of Austin’s mission this summer. Through partnerships with the Capital Area Food Bank and BookSpringGo, children and parents- residing at 8 affordable housing locations […]
Manor Independent School District (MISD) has been celebrating literacy all summer long! Children and families can explore reading aboard the “Reading on the Go” Manor book bus. The traveling book bus has been making stops around Manor helping families build their book collection one book at a time. Through a partnership with the ReBook program, […]
One way BookSpringGo builds early literacy through the community is through book giveaways and read alouds! BookSpring receives generous donations of gently used books through the ReBook program. The books are then distributed throughout Central Texas to pediatric medical clinics, community outreach centers, family shelters, libraries, and other social service organizations. St. David’s Episcopal Church […]
