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Indies partner with Children's Book Project to tackle book poverty
Independent bookshops are partnering with The Children’s Book Project charity to receive donations of pre-loved books from local families, in an effort to combat book poverty among children.
Members of the local community are being encouraged to drop off books at their local participating bookshop. These will be gifted to other children with very few books of their own, and the campaign aims to generate 20,000 books.
The scheme builds on the success of the first initiative, which launched last year. As shops began to re-open post-Covid, the Children’s Book Project approached a small number of independent bookshops to explore the idea of them taking in donations of "gently used" children’s books during Independent Bookshop Week. The 14 participating bookshops took in over 6,000 donated books between them.
In total 37 shops are participating, with specialist children’s bookshops including Tales on Moon Lane in Herne Hill, south London, and Bags of Books in Lewes, East Sussex, among them.
The event will take place during Independent Bookshop Week (which runs from the 18th to 25th June), extending until 9th July. Most participating bookshops are based in London or in the south of England, but the charity hopes to expand its reach in subsequent years.
Liberty Venn, founder of The Book Project, said: “Pass on the books your children have loved but grown out of and help us to put stories directly in other children’s hands. It’s a powerful way to combat book poverty and to give every child the chance to find a book that inspires them.”
This year’s book drive is running under the title Pass on the Magic, with a focus on how books can bring joy, creativity, and the power to dream to children’s lives.
Children’s author Maz Evans said: “I’m thrilled to see so many wonderful independent bookshops getting behind this campaign. They are at the heart of reading communities nationwide and by inviting families to find new homes for their children’s pre-loved books are helping to tackle book poverty in the most practical of ways”.
