Booksgiving! A Celebration of Literacy

A line of more than 100 teachers and school staff wrapped around Children’s Services Council’s building 15 minutes before the scheduled opening of Booksgiving. What is Booksgiving, you ask? A creative way to put extra books in the hands of students by way of their teachers. In all, about 345 teachers and media specialists from 83 different public schools received 17,100 books – and the books were gone in 90 minutes! Nearly two-thirds of the teachers who attended are from Title I schools.

Studies consistently show that putting books in children’s hands can improve their academic performance. Children’s Services Council has practiced that approach by distributing more than 900,000 free books in eight years to students Pre-K through 5th grade in Palm Beach County public and charter schools. Typically the free book fairs at 140 elementary schools sponsored by CSC take place in the spring, with an emphasis on summer reading.

But in 2019 we wanted to do something special for our county’s school teachers. So in addition to giving out more than 100,000 books to children in May, we used the Saturday before Thanksgiving (hence Booksgiving) as a day to thank teachers. All Elementary grade teachers were invited to our building in Boynton Beach and allowed to select up to 50 free children’s books, including some in Spanish They could use the books for their classroom libraries or give them out as holiday treats. Needless to say, the response was overwhelming.