The 10 dozen-plus books that went to The Red Bookshelf this morning.
Like many parents, I’m using this pre-Christmas season to clear out my children’s toys — this includes books. Three copies of “Goodnight Moon” is three two too many.
A couple weeks ago, I posted to Facebook asking for first-hand suggestions from readers on where to donate. I’d exhausted all the expected options — my girls’ pediatrician’s office did not need an additional 200 books; the library preferred large donations closer to their annual sale, lest they have to store them all year; the children’s hospital, I was told last year, accepted new books only (understandable). The thrift store in my parents’ town — where I do the bulk of my clothing, toys and household donations — has so many books they give one away to every child who comes in each Friday.
But, I learned, there were still plenty of viable options in and around the Capital Region (note: my post generated more than 70 comments — I’ve selected some of the charities and groups that were mentioned more than once, but you can see the full list here.)
-
- Grassroot Givers: A nonprofit in Albany that accepts donations of clothes, books and home essentials, and gives them to low-income individuals, free of charge.
- Northern Rivers Family of Services: The group has an Early Head Start program for children 0-3. Any books they don’t use in the classrooms are sent home with the families to encourage parents to read to their children.
- The RED Bookshelf: The RED Bookshelf re-circulates gently-used children’s books back into the community.
- Unity House: They use the books at their domestic violence shelter. When families leave their homes, they leave with nothing. Having some books to read might help comfort the children while they are living at the shelter.
- Whitney Young Health. They have a pediatric literacy program where children get new books at a well child visit, and their siblings can get a gently used book. They also have a little red bookshelf in the waiting area for pediatric patients.
I ended up donating to The Red Bookshelf as it received the most mentions on my post, but all the charities mentioned above — and on the Facebook thread — are certainly deserving.
