Scripps Howard Book Drive Gives Kids 200K Books To Take Them To ‘Magical Places’

Getting children interested in reading may be one of the noblest achievements that can be done. And one that lasts a lifetime.

As the little girl says in this promo, reading books can take you to “magical places.”

The Scripps Howard Fund’s 2023 “If You Give a Child a Book …” campaign raised a record breaking $1.2 million during its 8th annual childhood literacy campaign. The donations will provide 200,000 books to children during this academic year.

“Books shouldn’t be a luxury,” says Liz Carter, Scripps Howard Fund CEO. “Every dollar raised helps a child start building their home library – setting them on a path to success.”

For every $6 donation, the Fund gives one book to a child in need.

The “If You Give a Child a Book …” campaign is supported by E.W. Scripps and its employees, the communities it serves and Scripps family members.

The campaign’s primary focus is on reaching underserved and vulnerable children living in poverty, with a special focus on distributing books to kids in kindergarten through third grade, when they are still learning to read.

Through the fund’s collaboration with Scholastic, Scripps’ stations and national networks distribute the free books during book fairs.

The fund’s goal is to ensure every student in the low-income schools with which it partners receives 10 books each year. The Scholastic Book Fairs allow students to select their own books to take home.

To celebrate 25 years since the first Harry Potter book’s publication in the U.S., Scholastic also donated 25,000 copies of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone to every third through eighth grade student in the Fund’s 78 partner schools.

Schools distributed their books throughout September as part of Scholastic’s 25th anniversary celebration. School libraries also received a new box set of the complete Harry Potter series.

“The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling is a modern classic that has ignited kids’ imagination for many years,” says Ellie Berger, president, Scholastic Trade. “We’re thrilled to join forces with the Scripps Howard Fund on this exciting national literacy initiative to bring ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’ to thousands of children in underserved schools and inspire a new generation to start their magical reading journey.”

NOTE: Growing up, my mother always seemed to be going to the library to get books to read.  It’s been a practice handed down to me. When my mom passed away, we found a hand-written notebook among her things, filled with hundreds of examples of reviews about the books she read, and the magical places they took her.