Books For a Better Life

Help provide kids with a life-long love of learning. Donate today to give a book to a child in need!

Reading is the most important skill a child needs in order to contribute and function competently within our society. Children's book ownership, starting from birth, is imperative to gaining an appreciation for books, developing reading readiness, and ultimately becoming a skilled reader. In middle-income neighborhoods, the ratio of books per child is 13 to 1; in low-income neighborhoods, the ratio is 1 age-appropriate book for every 300 children.

With your help we can change this trend. Bernie's Book Bank is working to provide books to youth in need in the Chicago area. They collect quality new and gently used children's books through partnerships with schools, businesses, book publishers and distributors. Then they process books with the help of a large pool of volunteers. Each book is examined for quality, sorted into age-appropriate reading levels and distributed to large populations of at-risk children throughout identified schools. Each child served receives a minimum of 12 books per year, every year until the child completes 6th grade, creating a continuum of distribution from birth through 6th grade.

You can help. Just $5 provides 10 high quality books to children in need.

Bernie's Book Bank collects, processes and distributes quality new and gently used children's books to significantly increase book ownership among at-risk infants, toddlers and school-age children throughout Chicagoland.