“On a late February morning, a group of fourth graders from Moscone Elementary School in the Mission District stepped off a yellow school bus and entered a Bayview warehouse filled with books.” A reporter with independent news site Mission Local visited our Book Bank during a recent Storytime, and shared how the program and the Children’s Book Project works to give free books to kids who need them. Read all about it here!

When Paloma Seligman, a sophomore at Urban School in San Francisco, heard our Board president Risa Schwartz describe the work of the Children’s Book Project at Berkeley Model United Nations, she knew she wanted to get involved. “I’m super passionate about reading, and believe books should be accessible to everyone regardless of socio-economic status,” she said. At our Book Bank, Paloma counts donated books and curates children’s titles to deliver to our longtime client partners at the Homeless Prenatal Program, where she also volunteers, adding books to the baby clothes, diapers, and home goods for their care packages. In late April, Paloma plans to represent the Children’s Book Project and give away free books at the Climate Action Youth Summit and Dia de los Niños events in San Francisco. Also a writer, Paloma started the Women’s Youth Writing Association branch at her school, and her poems and stories will be published in their inaugural book. As busy as she is, Paloma makes time to volunteer at our Book Bank because, she says, “It’s fun handling the donated books and thinking about how the Children’s Book Project externalizes their mission—it feels powerful to be a part of that.”