Statements
Mission
Book'em creates a more literate Nashville and ignites children's passion for reading through book ownership and enthusiastic volunteers. We envision a future in Nashville where all children own books and know first-hand the joy and value of reading.
Book'em brings books and reading role models to underprivileged youth in Nashville, TN. We are the largest provider of free books for kids ages 0-18 living in Davidson County, and activate 300+ volunteers annually to inspire a love for literacy and get books into the hands of our most vulnerable youth.
Book'em distributed more than 114,000 books in 2023. We have a commitment to providing books that appeal to and resonate with young people. Having books that showcase diversity is a priority for us, because many of the youth we serve are ethnically and racially diverse.
Thank you for helping bring kids and books together!
Background
For 35 years, Book'em has served Nashville as a local, nonprofit, children's literacy organization whose mission is to create a more literate Nashville ignite children's passion for reading through book ownership and enthusiastic volunteers. We fulfill our mission by making children and teens proud owners of new and like-new books and bringing volunteer readers into the classrooms of at-risk preschool and elementary aged children.
Our highest priority is serving children during their preschool and elementary school years. Developing strong literacy skills from an early age is essential for academic and lifelong success. Book'em provides vital resources, so that Nashville's underprivileged children can build their literacy skills. Programs include Books for Nashville's Kids, Reading Is Fundamental, Ready for Reading, Read Me Day, and our newest program - a Book Bus. Book'em envisions a future where every child in Nashville is given an equal opportunity to experience the joy of owning and reading books. For more information, please visit www.bookem-kids.org.
Book'em was founded in 1989 by a small group of local community leaders who wanted to encourage children to read by giving them books of their own. This group included members of the Council of Community Services, Waldenbooks, The Nashville Banner, and Reading Is FUNdamental (RIF). With 35 years of service in Nashville, Book'em raises awareness of the fact that reading is important and fun by giving books to economically disadvantaged children through community centers, schools, tutoring programs, Christmas/holiday giving programs, preschools, government agencies, faith-based groups, and other non-profit organizations as requested. Book'em works to recruit, train and maintain reading volunteers for our Reading Is Fundamental and Ready for Reading programs and annual Read Me Day celebrations. In addition, Book'em collects books and donations to buy books from area businesses, service and civic organizations, schools and congregations, publishers, as well as individuals. Approximately 80% of the books we give away through our Books for Nashville's Kids program are donated to Book'em by people in the community who hold book drives on our behalf.
Impact
The statistics are alarming about children and literacy: 1 in 5 children in America grow up without learning how to read. Only 34% of MNPS 3rd graders are proficient in reading. Research shows students who are not reading on grade level by the end of 3rd grade are 4 times less likely to graduate from high school. Two-thirds of students who cannot read proficiently by the end of 4th grade will most likely need public support and/or be incarcerated. These statistics are unacceptable. Early intervention is crucial for students who are struggling with reading and writing.
For 35 years, Book'em has been serving Nashville with programs that help children become literate and encourage them to love to read. Book'em and the Nashville community have helped local children celebrate the love of books. Book'em's Books for Nashville's Kids program now donates 100,000+ books to youth in Davidson County annually. Through the Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) program, Book'em recruits, trains, places and supervises 250+ reading volunteers, who read to and give books to more than 5,000 economically disadvantaged elementary students . Book'em's Ready for Reading volunteers read aloud with Pre-K children weekly, and the annual Read Me Day activities celebrate books and reading.
Book'em distributed over 114,000 books in 2023. Book'em is the largest nonprofit bringing books and reading role models to low income youth ages 0-18 in Davidson County.
Book'em is focused on the following priorities:
Ensure relevance of our mission
Ensure financial sustainability
Ensure sustainability of vital programs
Develop leadership and human resources
The number of students Book'em serves, number of books we distribute and number of volunteers we supervise have all grown over the years and the demand for our services continues to increase. Book'em hopes to continue expanding in the next few years to meet more of the demand in Nashville for children's books and the motivation that kids deserve to develop a love of reading.
Some of our most significant accomplishments include:
Book'em implemented strategic moves to expand its capacity, enabling us to serve more children and youth through more books and more volunteers. These calculated actions resulted in phenomenal growth in every program with limited increase in expenses.
The Book'em Board is providing strong leadership. Board Members are engaged, organized, and involved. Plus, there are meaningful relationships between our Board, staff, volunteers, and donors, which bolsters enthusiasm from all involved.
Develop broader and deeper relationships to further benefit the community.
During 2024-2025, we are focused on building infrastructure and capacity with a specific emphasis on staffing, fundraising, physical space, and programs.
Needs
Book'em needs children's books, volunteers, and money.
Currently our most pressing needs include:
Financial donations for program and operating expenses.
Book donations of new and like-new books for children and teens, especially those in Pre-K through 8th grades and that reflect the diversity of our community, including bilingual books in Spanish and Arabic.
Volunteers to read to children, assist with Books for Nashville's Kids, office functions and special events.
Financial sponsorship of and/or in-kind donations/partnerships for special events including Read Me Day, Breakfast Celebration, Book'em for the Holidays, and our annual direct mail campaign.
Partnerships with companies, corporations, organizations, civic groups and individuals, who have an interest in literacy and education.
Physical space that meets our growing needs. We currently have books spread out in five different locations because we don't have enough physical space in our leased office/warehouse building.
CEO Statement
I've been with Book'em since 2008 now. It's been quite a roller-coaster ride and I've loved almost every minute! We still have great work and challenges ahead of us. Literacy is the foundation for success in life. People who cannot read well, often have a difficult time being active, productive members of our society. Poor literacy skills negatively affect people's quality of life. Additionally, society suffers when people are illiterate - it affects our workforce, crime, health and taxes. In order to be successful in school, children need to be reading at or above their current grade level by the end of third grade. It is extremely difficult to catch up when they fall behind. Yet, most students in Metro Nashville Public Schools read below grade level throughout their years in school.
Children and teens need books of their own. That's what our founders were told when they began this journey. So they collected as many books as they could and gave them to children who probably didn't have books in their homes. What they found and what is still true today is that many children in lower-income households do not have age-appropriate books of their own and in many cases no access to books beyond their school library.
The conventional wisdom also said that children learned the most in their very early years - that they needed people talking to them, reading with them, interacting with them. Brain research demonstrates that fact, thus our continued focus on preschool and elementary children. We have seen tremendous growth in and demand for our services. Parents, children and teachers find great value in children having books of their own at home and positive community role models in their classrooms.
Book'em has been inspiring a love of books and reading in children for many years. Have we done a good job? It's hard to measure what individual children have learned, but we know that our reading volunteers and teachers tell us that the children respond positively to having books read to them. But, what's our real purpose in reading to preschoolers and elementary children? It's fun to do, and the children love it, but are they learning anything? Definitely. They're acquiring pre-literacy and language development skills that we now know are so important for them to have when they are learning to read. We can never start too early to inspire a love of books and reading.
While Book'em will not be solely responsible for getting our students reading on grade level, we play a vital role as a partner and motivator in their literacy development.
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Education - Remedial Reading & Encouragement |
| Secondary Category: | Youth Development - Youth Development Programs |
| Tertiary Category: | Human Services - Gift Distribution |
Areas Served
The primary service area for Book'em is Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee. In this area, we provide books and reading volunteers to two Pre-K early learning centers that serve low-income families and fifteen Title I public elementary schools. Book'em provides books to under-resourced youth from birth through age 18 through approximately 180 other nonprofit organizations, government agencies, faith-based groups and schools in Davidson County that serve primarily low-income families.
| TN - Davidson |
