The state of California provides no dedicated funding for school libraries.

School districts in high poverty areas of the Bay Area often have not been able to properly fund their libraries in decades, yet they are the most accessible source of pleasure reading material for their students.

Your donation to Access Books Bay Area helps bridge the literacy gap between the haves, who have abundant access to reading material in their homes and attend well-funded schools with well-stocked school libraries, and the have-nots, who often do not have access to reading materials in their homes, and attend schools with school libraries that have not been updated in decades. Out-of-date library materials often do not reflect the cultures of the students attending schools today. Access Books Bay Area works to provide culturally relevant reading materials, so that our Black, Brown, gender-nonconforming, and all other students can see themselves in the books on their school library shelves, and learn to see themselves as readers, a key step towards academic success.

The Coronavirus pandemic has only heightened this inequality. 

Our work to get books into the hands of our poorest children is more important now than ever. Your dollars support our crisis intervention programs, working to get books into the hands of children in any way possible during this difficult time.

We rely on the generosity of individual donors, sponsors and grant-makers to provide under-served children with the kind of libraries enjoyed by their more affluent peers. Please consider donating money to support literacy in disadvantaged communities.

Remember: among school and community predictors of academic achievement, the size of the school library collection and staff is second only to the absence of poverty.

The more books children have access to in their school libraries, the more they will read. 

Want to donate by check?

Please make checks payable to: Access Books Bay Area and send to:

Would you like to sponsor a school project?

Send us an email at info@accessbooksbayarea.org.