Newsletters

june 2025

6/13/2025

One thing is certain:
Kids love their libraries

With a busy spring semester behind us, we're taking solace in the support we've provided to children experiencing uncertainty and trauma. From the urban wildfires that ravaged Los Angeles County to fast-changing government policies impacting vulnerable communities, the Access Books team is working to provide a safe escape and relaxing environment for those who need it most.

“I read every book I'm given," one student told us. "They are my favorite thing in the world.” Another student added: “I always feel calm in the library. It is my favorite spot.”

Our spring semester began with tragedy as fires raged in communities we serve alongside communities that frequently run book drives and volunteer with us. Once the smoke cleared and children were returning to school, the Access Books network was ready to provide refuge and escape. Our volunteers and donors (including staff at our donated warehouse and a group of NYC moms) helped us sort and distribute nearly 21,000 books to schools and families. While coordinating this, we kept our usual busy library refurbishment schedule.

During the spring semester, we refurbished eight school libraries across southern California — from East Los Angeles to Orange County. Most of the schools we serve have collections with books dating back to the 1980s. At many schools, the Access Books team assisted the library aide to weed the collection, discarding outdated titles and tattered books. Hundreds of volunteers assisted in painting murals, cataloging, and shelving books.

In addition, thanks to 50 hard-working volunteers, 6,603 books were distributed in curated bundles to nearly 2200 children. For many students we serve, these are the only books they will own.

In all, we provided nearly 81,000 books and served more than 10,000 students.

One of our most popular programs is author visits. We are fortunate to work with engaging, fun, and committed authors. At each visit, students receive at least one book written by the author. The excitement around author visits is school-wide. In the spring semester, we hosted nineteen author visits for nearly 1400 students.

The semester ended with an all-day event for approximately 400 Access Books-sponsored students at the YALLWEST book festival. "YALLWEST is the first time our students get to experience being totally surrounded by people as excited and enthusiastic about books as they are," one librarian told us. "These are the kids that have deeply-held favorite authors, series, and genres. They relish the opportunity to talk about their favorites with other like-minded readers and are beyond thrilled to meet authors in person. What a joy to be able to bring them to YALLWEST and receive books to take home with them!”

Looking ahead...

Despite the tumult around us, our mission remains strong: educational equity and access to high quality books. Want to show your support? We have several volunteer opportunities on deck this summer:

Warehouse Book Sorting
Help us prepare for the fall semester by organizing brand new books into school library sets. You'll get a sneak preview of all the amazing books we're giving to students in underserved communities. Join us!

Compton School Libraries
We will be in Compton schools all summer Monday - Thursday from 9 a.m. to 1:00 pm. This is a great opportunity to make a small change in our world. High school students may count volunteer hours toward the Congressional Award.

Volunteer

Thanks to all of our volunteers, donors, and dedicated staff. We couldn't do it without you!

Finally, we want to say goodbye and big congrats to our high school senior volunteers — many of whom have volunteered with us since middle school!

Dhilen Mistry will be a regent’s scholar at UC Berkeley.
Orlando Popkin is headed to Oberlin College to study and play soccer.
Lucy Row will be volunteering at a teen camp in Romania over the summer followed by a 3-month internship at a Human Rights NGO in Morocco. She will pursue double degrees in Law and International Relations in Australia later this year.
Ximena Morales will study art history at Loyola Marymount University
Sabine Sines will study marine biology at UCLA.

It takes a village to build a library!

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Copyright © 2025 Access Books, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you've volunteered with us in the past or have donated to support our cause.

Our mailing address is:

Access Books

PO Box 64951

Los Angeles, CA 90064

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April 2025

6/13/2025

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Help Us Give Students the Spring Break They Deserve

On May 3rd, 2025, we're taking students to Santa Monica for YALLWEST, an annual book festival featuring New York Times bestselling authors along with local and acclaimed young adult and middle grade writers, plus notable TV, film, video game, and comic creators. We're bringing busloads of children from Compton, South Los Angeles, East Los Angeles, and other underserved Los Angeles neighborhoods. For many, a trip to Santa Monica for YALLWEST will be their only spring break. Between the political climate and immigration crackdowns, times are tense for children in these communities. Let's give them a memorable day, filled with rock star writers, inspiring artists, and unforgettable books.

We need your support to cover transportation, lunch, tote bags, and bundles of books by authors at the event. Please consider sponsoring a student to attend.

Sponsor a Student

Volunteers Needed - May 10th

While Access Books frequently serves schools in Los Angeles County, we recognize that our Inland Empire neighbors also struggle to fill library shelves. Emmerton Elementary in San Bernardino needs our help, so we're taking a field trip. Please join us for a day of mural painting and book processing. If you can't join us, be sure to tell your IE friends about this volunteer opportunity!

Volunteer at Emmerton

Spring Impact

We've given more than 59,000 books this semester! From book drives to book clubs, library refurbishments to fire relief books, we're spreading books like seeds all over Southern California. The rain is finally abating and we can see literacy blooming in our schools and communities. And we're not done yet! We have eight remaining service events on our calendar for the spring. Join us!

As always, thanks to our amazing army of volunteers, small but mighty staff, and generous donors. We couldn't do it without you!

Volunteer

Donate

Copyright © 2025 Access Books, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you've volunteered with us in the past or have donated to support our cause.

Our mailing address is:

Access Books

PO Box 64951

Los Angeles, CA 90064

Add us to your address book

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

1 Comment

March 2025

6/13/2025

1 Comment

The Love of Books Has No Limit!

Not long after wildfires devastated Los Angeles, Brooke Travis, a New York City parent and community organizer, reached out to Access Books.

“I knew that once the urgency subsided and the news cycle moved on, many parents, children, and teachers would need help," she told us. "One crucial effort would be rebuilding their libraries.”

Brooke hoped to send a few hundred books for classroom and home libraries. Soon, her efforts grew, and hundreds of East Coast families started collecting books to send to Los Angeles. The first week of February, Steinway Moving delivered a truckload of books to our warehouse.

Meanwhile, Access Books joined forces with local bookstore Children's Book World to assist with efforts to get books into children’s homes and temporary classrooms. The bookstore staff worked with the Children’s Book Council and several publishers including Random House, Scholastic, Sourcebooks, Candlewick, and Chronicle Books to obtain new books. Word spread quickly and Angelenos, eager to help, provided thousands of gently used books.

On February 15th, roughly 50 volunteers spent the morning organizing nearly 21,000 books for fire-affected school communities and other schools served by Access Books. After organizing the books, volunteers loaded cars, trucks, and SUVs to deliver to school sites.

“This has been amazing," said an Alameda Arts parent volunteer. "There are so many terrific books and it is just what we need to start feeling normal again.”

Fire-affected schools served included Odyssey Elementary, Odyssey Middle, Alameda Arts, Elliot Middle, and Don Benito Elementary. While Don Benito didn't burn, the school population has grown by 40% as a result of displaced students in the community.

We also provided bookshelves to classrooms without them. By all accounts, the donated books are providing a welcome distraction.

"Ever since the delivery of Access Books, our students have been voraciously reading their way through the shelves and shelves of high-quality, high-interest books," said a teacher at Alameda Arts. "Their favorites so far are the 'Spy School' series and graphic novels galore!"

Thanks again to our amazing book drive partners and tireless volunteers. The road to fire recovery will be long and challenging, but giving students the escape and comfort of a good book is something we can do now.

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