Book Buddies marked a milestone in March — our second big shipment of books from Better World Books. This is the first year we have been able to sort and box an entire shipment, then have time to receive another 24 gaylords of books (over ten tons!) to sort and get ready for distribution in the same school year. This means we will easily meet our goal of distributing 60,000 books this May — and probably exceed it. We will be able to reach more schools and at least 4,000 more at-risk kids than we did last year.  

We couldn’t have this much success without the help of Better World Books, an international book reseller whose motto is, “Sell a book, give a book.” We have partnered with BWB now for two years, and they have generously donated huge shipments of books whenever we’ve asked — Thank you, Better World Books!

One of the most heartwarming things about receiving these large donations of books is the enthusiasm of the SAISD personnel who turn out with their fork lift and pallet jacks to haul those big boxes off the truck and into our facility on W.W. White Road. It’s a big job, but the men who do it always say they enjoy helping us help all those children in the district who will get to choose books at the end of the school year. We caught a group shot of the crew celebrating a job well done.

Thank you, SAISD unloading crew, for all the hard work — and enthusiasm!

And many thanks to all the individuals and groups who are running book drives all around San Antonio and even in the surrounding communities. We couldn’t reach as many kids as we do with as many books to choose from if we didn’t receive books from so many book drives. If you haven’t held one, please consider doing it now. Any group is good for a drive, and it’s fun and easy. Just email bookbuddies@saylonline.wpengine.com for helpful suggestions and instructions about pickup or delivery of the books collected.

But we need other help, too! Better World Books donates huge numbers of books to us. But it’s not entirely free — we have to pay the freight, around $2,500 per shipment.  Plus, we have expenses for sorting supplies and other items we need to keep Book Buddies running. It’s a very lean operation, but we are very low in funds to keep going.

So, if you value what Book Buddies is doing to put books into the hands of kids and eliminate those book deserts in our community, please donate what you can now. Send your check to SAYL, 1616 E. Commerce Street, San Antonio, TX 78205, and designate it for Book Buddies. Be sure “Book Buddies” is on your check. Or you can call (210) 299-1533 and ask to donate to Book Buddies. We appreciate any amount you can give. It all enables us to receive those books and get them ready for the thousands of children we serve every year. Thank you.

Jane Welch, Book Buddies Coordinator