We are very excited to announce a new partnership. InCultureParent will be partnering with the East Bay Children’s Book Project in Oakland, to donate the multicultural books we receive to review.  The East Bay Children’s Book Project was founded to help build literacy by putting books into the hands of children who have little or no access to them. Working through individuals and organizations that help children in need, the East Bay Children’s Book Project has distributed over 675,000 free books since opening its doors in May 2005.

The Project currently lacks multicultural children’s books, which are particularly important as they reflect the diverse community of children found in the San Francisco Bay Area many of whom receive their books. We felt they were a perfect fit for us. Although we are a global magazine, we believe it is very important to give back globally and locally. We are really excited to be working with such a great organization that has a mission so aligned with our values. Here is more about what they do.

Their books are picked up and given directly to children by teachers, social workers, health care professionals, community outreach groups, housing authority employees and police officers. Some are used by schools, daycares, community centers, homeless shelters and hospitals to create libraries at their sites.

Editor-in-Chief Stephanie Meade had the pleasure of sitting down to lunch with the East Bay Book Project Founder Ann Katz after touring their distribution site in a recreational park facility in Mosswood Park in Oakland. Ann is a retired teacher who taught for over 40 years in Alameda. Both of  her sons were born and raised in Oakland. She didn’t set out to grow into such an important organization with a tremendous reach. She started trying to distribute more books to children as she recognized the unquestionable need as a kindergarten teacher. Before she knew it, word got out and the organization soon outgrew its garage space and split into its own organization in the East Bay. The demand for books continued to grow and she had long lines on book distribution days with so many people in the community who needed books. In 2011, she won the Citizen of Tomorrow award in Oakland for her efforts, for none of which she is paid. Her commitment to the project is purely a labor of love.

The organization currently receives many books, both used and new, donated from individuals as well as bookstores. However multicultural titles are the real ones lacking. We felt we could help to fill that gap and couldn’t think of any better use for our children’s books that we are given for review (as well as periodically cleaning out our personal home libraries to donate to them).

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