We Back Books!

We Back Books!

Join our campaign to increase access to books for individuals, particularly youth—including youth of color, rural and queer youth—who lack the resources and/or mobility to regularly patronize our bookstore.

Firestorm promotes book access by connecting individual funders with grassroots programs already working in our region to promote literacy and empowerment through reading. In doing so, we strive to elevate books that challenge popular narratives, feature authentic characters with diverse experiences and identities, and engage important real-world issues with bravery and nuance.

How It Works

In collaboration with grassroots partners, Firestorm identifies books needed by existing community programs. Our co-operative then works to identify individual donors to finance the acquisition of these books. The type and quantity of books is based on the specific requirements of each program.

100% of donations will be used to purchase books from our co-operative, with no funds used for administration.

Back the Campaign! $250–$1,000

Current Opportunities

In addition to accepting general support for We Back Books!, our co-op welcomes donors to back specific programs. Up to 25% of donations received in this manner may be used to acquire books for other programs that are under-supported.

Asheville Prison Books
Legal Books for Prisoners

Asheville Prison Books needs copies of Prisoners' Self-Help Litigation Manual and Barron's Law Dictionary to fill requests from incarcerated individuals. $500 buys eight copies of each.

Back It! $250–$1,000
ROAR
Diverse Books for Rural Youth

Rural Organizing and Resilience needs books with racial and social justice themes for its monthly book and clothing distribution program in Marshall. $500 buys thirty hardcover titles.

Back It! $250–$1,000
Colorful Pages Project
Children's Books for Public Classrooms

Colorful Pages Project needs picture books that feature kids of color, written by authors of color and appropriate for 1st graders. $500 buys thirty hardcover titles.

Back It! $250–$1,000
Word On the Street
Art + Activism Books for Teens of Color

Word on the Street/La Voz de los Jovenes needs books in English and Spanish for a library available to young writers and artists. $500 buys thirty-five paperback titles.

Back It! $250–$1,000
RAICES
Spanish Books for Young Readers

RAICES needs books that strengthen the cultural identity of Latinx children in Buncombe County.

Back It! $250–$1,000

Grassroots Partners

Asheville Prison Books
A volunteer-run collective which has distributed free literature to people incarcerated in the southeast since 1999. avlpb.org
Colorful Pages Project
A group of educators, counselors, and parents working to get books featuring characters of color, by authors of color into WNC schools. (no website yet!)
La Escuelita
Description coming soon. (no website yet!)
RAICES
A program of Nuestro Centro that begun in 2013 to strengthen the cultural identities of Latinx children and promote a positive influence on their lives. nuestrocentro.weebly.com/raices.html
Rural Organizing and Resilience
A community organization that, among other things, runs a free monthly kids book and clothing distro in Marshall alongside the YMCA's mobile food pantry. ruralorganizing.wordpress.com
Word On the Street / Voz De Les Jovenes
A program that centers the leadership and creativity of Black and Brown youth, ages 13-19, through arts-based programming. wotsvdlj.net