Community volunteers will host a book drive for the East Bay Children’s Book Project (EBCBP) at the Piedmont Turkey Trot pre-race packet pick-up on Wednesday, Nov. 27 from 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. at the Piedmont Veterans Memorial Building, 401 Highland Avenue. The table for book drop-offs will be outside if the weather permits.
Volunteers will collect new and gently used children’s books, including board books through high school books. Books should be clean with no marks or stains. No textbooks, religious books, encyclopedias, magazines, adult books, or library discards. Please bring donated books in boxes for easy transport to EBCBP.
The mission of EBCBP is to help build literacy by putting books into the hands of children who have little or no access to them. Working through individuals and organizations who help children in need, the organization has given out more than two million free books since opening their doors in May 2005.
School Board and City Council members started this tradition more than ten years ago. EBCBP volunteer and former Wildwood Elementary School librarian Ellen Reed notes that 570 books were donated last year during this event. “We are so grateful for the community’s contribution to our children’s literacy project year after year,” says Reed.
If you are available to help collect books on Wednesday, Nov. 27 from 3:00 p.m.- 6:00 pm, drive books to EBCBP at 2501 Harrison St., Oakland, and/or have interest in maintaining this tradition going forward, please email Sarah Pearson at srpear@gmail.com.
If you miss this opportunity to donate books, you may drop off books at EBCBP on Tuesdays 3:30 p.m.- 5:30 p.m. or Saturday, Dec. 7 from 10:00 a.m – 1:00 p.m. Children’s books may also be donated in the EBCBP box at the Piedmont Middle School library at 740 Magnolia Ave., Piedmont during school hours.
Monetary donations can be accepted by mail at 2501 Harrison St., Oakland, CA 94612 or online HERE
About EBCBP
Too many children in the Bay Area live in homes without books, and attend schools and programs where books are in short supply. Encouraging reading is not enough when families and schools do not have books. East Bay Children’s Book Project’s books are given directly to children in need by teachers, social workers, health care professionals, community outreach groups, housing authority employees, and police officers. Some are used by schools, daycare and community centers, homeless shelters, and hospitals to create libraries at their sites. Our clients determine how best to meet the needs of the children with whom they work.