In March of this year, while our co-op was still only operating online, we began asking customers if they'd like to contribute to our campaign to buy books for others who lack the resources or mobility to patronize our bookstore. The response has been awesome! Over the first three months, we received nearly 200 donations making up a little over $1k.

Last week members of our collective made our first book donation drop off at La Esperanza, a cooperatively-owned building purchased by the Emma community in 2019. The Spanish language children's books we delivered were selected in collaboration with staff at Raíces Emma-Erwin (previously Nuestro Centro) to serve the organization's mission of strengthening the cultural identity of Latinx children. A member of Raíces shared that while many children in their community speak Spanish at home, they are reading and writing exclusively in English as a result of school curriculum.

We're excited to deliver more book donations to partner programs through our We Back Books! campaign. If you'd like to chip in, you can select the donation option during checkout or contact us to make a pledge.