Introduce yourself. Tell us about your background.
My name is Brooke. I am a stay-at-home mom who loves books. I graduated from Baylor University and worked in the government and nonprofit world prior to having children. I volunteered a lot growing up with my mother as a part of the National Charity League in Houston. I am excited that I get to combine my love for reading with my love of helping others.
Tell us more about your non-profit. What was the inspiration for it initially?
Book Drive for Kids was founded in the Dallas area by two moms, Michelle and Nicol in 2017. They realized many students in low-income families had few books to read at home. In response, they organized book drives at local schools, churches and with community groups and gave away the books at free book fairs in the DFW metroplex. They have gifted more than 100,000 books in their community.
I volunteered with the Dallas Chapter back when I lived in Dallas and enjoyed it. In the Spring of 2021, I started the Austin Chapter.
How has it grown since its inception? What successes have you experienced?
Since many charter schools in the Austin area do not have room for a school library, the need for books at these schools is great and we began serving those schools first. In addition to serving Title 1 charter schools, we also serve public schools in Del Valle ISD and Round Rock ISD. I love that we give students a choice. They get to pick out which book they want to read and as a result are more likely to read it!
Since 2021, Book Drive for Kids Austin has gifted almost 34,000 books to children/school libraries in the Austin area.
To date, we have held 26 books fairs at Title 1 schools and given away 17,300 new books to 12,310 students in the Austin Area. We currently have a waitlist of several public schools in Del Valle ISD that would like a free book fair. (Schools served include Del Valle & Round Rock ISD, Austin Achieve, KIPP public schools, IDEA public schools, Wayside schools and Cedars International Academy).
Book Drive for Kids also serves children in foster care by partnering with local nonprofits and holding free book fairs at their events.
To date, we have given away 3,222 books to 2,010 children in foster care.
What are the needs you currently have and how can people support you?
Currently, we need monetary donations to buy more books. Cash donations go further than a gift off our wish list since we can buy books in bulk and at a significant discount avoiding shipping fees and sales tax. You can donate on our website here.
What are some ways people can get involved if they are interested?
We always need volunteers to help our book fairs run smoothly. Our free book fairs are during the school day from 8 am – 2 pm with volunteers serving a 3 hour shift. We also need volunteers during the weekends in the summer. Click
here to fill out our volunteer form.
