Updates

Social science research shows a statistically significant correlation between the size of home libraries and children’s future academic success. According to Unite for Literacy’s book desert map, which analyzes variables including income, ethnicity, geography and languages, at least 70% US households have fewer than 20 children’s books in the home ...

Teresa Hanan is a native Texan from Pasadena. When she is not busy building early literacy in Central Texas, the UT alum enjoys cooking and gardening in her spare time. Teresa began volunteering as a community reader last Spring. Although, she is no stranger to working directly with children. Teresa ...

By Amanda Shaver, Community Partner Manager Wayne Glander, or “Justin Beaver” as he is known to the students he encounters while driving around town delivering books, has been instrumental to BookSpring’s literacy efforts in the community for the past ten years. Wayne has done everything from helping with the initial ...

By Lori Butler, The Junior League of Austin In this month of sharing thanks and giving back, I pride myself on being able to accomplish this year round as an active member of The Junior League. Fortunately, this year I was able to secure a role in working hand in ...

Combining our passions in a deliberate manner leads to maximum community impact! Helen Cordes is a prime example of this. Helen first connected with BookSpring last year when she graciously selected BookSpring as the recipient of sales from her spectacular book and hat packages. Each includes a children's book and ...

By Emily Ball Cicchini, Executive Director The statistics about the struggle to achieve full literacy in America are startling and alarming: 14% of Americans are illiterate, with little change over the past decade, and 21% of adults can’t read above a fifth-grade level.  Numerous studies connect lack of reading skills ...

Mariela Rodriguez, BookSpringGo Director Earlier this month, BookSpring Champion Dan Rourke celebrated his 60th Birthday with a mission. This was no ordinary celebration. He requested no presents in lieu of putting the spotlight on his 6 favorite charities, including BookSpring! He encouraged his friends, family, and other attendees to donate ...

By: Luke Arney, BookSpringGo volunteer My journey with BookSpring started over a year ago while I was in my freshman year at Lake Travis High School. During my freshman year in AP Human Geography my teacher, Mrs. Browning, set forth a project that would follow one of the seventeen UN ...

Birds Barbershop held a book drive in August, during the back to school rush, at each of their 8 Austin and 1 Houston locations. The Birds for Bookworms book drive benefited the ReBook program with hundreds of books. Birds Barbershop is a philanthropic leader in the Austin community. They are always ...

BookSpring’s van has been hitting the streets throughout Central Texas to get resources needed to children and families through partners already serving them. Tools that will ensure they read and succeed together. With thousands of books constantly flowing in and out of our office, we are keeping home libraries growing ...

By: Joel Gross Photos by Tyler Schmitt / The Mill Photography Studio At BookSpring we know one of the most critical areas in students’ early educational journey is stemming the tide of summer reading loss. More broadly, the summer also presents an added challenge to many parents as they strive to ...

At BookSpring, we are just over the moon this fall – even though it’s time for a solar eclipse! (okay, we’re a little out of sync…) We’ve got a collaboration in the works that has brought so many people together and we are truly excited about it! The Girls Scouts ...

By: Gauri Dhruva, BookSpringGo Volunteer  Signing up to be a Community Reader through BookSpring was a unique experience and I am very glad I got to be a part of it. I will admit that in the beginning, I was a bit hesitant to volunteer because this was an activity ...

BookSpring is a very special place to be. Our mission and vision are tied to the success of children and families and their learning to love books and reading. We can attribute many of our daily successes to the amazing skills and talents of our staff. Today we are saying ...

The American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) held their annual conference late July at the Austin Convention Center. We are very grateful that AALL selected BookSpring as the recipient of their children’s book drive. AALL’s Social Responsibilities Special Interest Section addresses issues of social change and social responsibility that are ...

Literacy First is an esteemed AmeriCorps program in the Austin community. Since 1994, Literacy First has worked to ensure that children in Central Texas are successful readers before third grade. Not only do these AmeriCorps members provide intensive one-on-one and small group literacy intervention at various Title 1 schools, they ...

Macy Wehman, of National Charity League, is pictured reading aloud at the Rosewood Apartment Community Center. Keeping the minds and bodies of families fed is part of the Housing Authority City of Austin’s mission this summer. Through partnerships with the Capital Area Food Bank and BookSpringGo, children and parents- residing ...

Manor Independent School District (MISD) has been celebrating literacy all summer long! Children and families can explore reading aboard the "Reading on the Go" Manor book bus. The traveling book bus has been making stops around Manor helping families build their book collection one book at a time. Through a ...

BookSpring will host a Parent Book Club training by appointment. The experts at BookSpring have offered Parent Book Clubs for over 15 years. Now, we are bringing our expertise to you. The 3-hour course is led by experienced book club facilitators who will share their best practices. This workshop offers ...

Associate Director, Jill Gonzalez and BookSpringEd Director, Wayne Holstine were thrilled to attend the Del Valle Independent School District Education Partners Year End Banquet held at the Circuit of the Americas. BookSpring was nominated in the category of “Big Things Come in Small Packages” award for services provided by a ...

(Pictured above: Executive Director Emily Ball Cicchini, President Ann Gass, Immediate Past President Chris Randazzo) BookSpring was pleased and proud to honor some of our long standing board members at our May board meeting, on Wednesday, May 24th. We are blessed with an outstanding board and are always sad to ...

Each year on April 30, El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day)—also referred to as Día!—countless libraries and community organizations celebrate the importance of diversity and literacy for all children. Embracing a child’s home language and culture contributes to their cognitive, social emotional, and literacy ...

Pollyanna Theatre Company and BookSpring have partnered up again!  Pollyanna's current show, All Aboard, is great for children of 18 months to 4 years of age.  All Aboard, by Bethany Lynn Corey, is a play for very young children that brings the world of transportation to life through colorful characters and motion. The ...

by Emily Ball Cicchini, Executive Director A little over a year ago, BookSpring was awarded an Impact Grant from IBM to develop a Digital Marketing Strategy for our programs and services. Arranged by BookSpring Champion Beth Tracy, IBM Manager of Corporate Citizenship & Corporate Affairs, and lead by IBM consultants ...

Greater Austin Area My Brother’s Keeper (GAAMBK) is an offshoot of the national movement My Brother’s Keeper. The initiative, created by former President Barack Obama, addresses the challenges that young men of color face. The GAAMBK initiative kicked off on March 8, 2015 at SXSWedu. This initiative is a collaboration among city, county, ...

One way BookSpringGo builds early literacy through the community is through book giveaways and read alouds! BookSpring receives generous donations of gently used books through the ReBook program. The books are then distributed throughout Central Texas to pediatric medical clinics, community outreach centers, family shelters, libraries, and other social service ...

This year promises a lot of exciting enhancements to BookSpring’s research-based and time-proven efforts to increase the love of reading in young children and their families. First, we’re pleased to announce the creation of three new positions: BookSpringRx Director, BookSpringEd Director, and BookSpringGo Director, being filled by Cynthia Ivey, Wayne ...

Volunteers from WE Communications pose with McBee Elementary Librarian Heather Stephens after spending the day volunteering in her library. WE Communications employees here in Austin have been volunteering with BookSpring for the past three years, and they very rapidly earned the distinction of “the GT Group”--that’s Gifted and Talented for ...

My first involvement with Ana Menchaca was through her Girl Scout troop. They volunteered to work on a project the Rotary Club of Austin was coordinating for BookSpring. The girls collected gently used books from their friends and classmates, took the donation to BookSpring, and prepped the books for distribution ...

BookSpring was recently awarded a grant from the MAXIMUS Foundation. This foundation awards grants to local community organizations with programs and projects in the areas of child and youth development, health, and community development. “It’s an honor to provide BookSpring with a MAXIMUS Foundation grant that will enable such a ...