International Book Giving Day 2016: How I’m Helping

Save the date for International Book Giving Day 2016!

Oh, I just LOVE literary related initiatives and events, don’t you?  Ok, I know not everyone gets excited about stuff like this, but I certainly do (don’t judge me…ha ha!)

International Book Giving Day #bookgivingday takes place on 14th February each year.  Yes, the same day as Valentine’s Day.  The aim of the day is to get books into the hands of as many children as possible thereby increasing children’s access to and enthusiasm for books.  Although the holiday originated in the UK, book lovers around the world now join in the celebrations every year.

International Book Giving Day is a 100% volunteer initiative born out of the knowledge that:

• Most children in developing countries do not own books.
• In the United Kingdom, one-third of children do not own books.
• In the United States, two-thirds of children living in poverty do not own books.

International Book Giving Day’s focus is on encouraging people worldwide to give a book to a child on February 14th.

Why not use the day to spread love in a different kind of way to:

1) gift a book to a friend or family member,
2) leave a book in a waiting room at a pediatrician’s office or children’s hospital for children to read, or
3) donate a gently used book to a local library, or shelter or to an organization that distributes used books to children in need internationally or locally.
4) Host a book giveaway on your blog – that’s something I plan to do…stay tuned!  This is a great idea for all you authors out there.

One of my personal goals this year is to start giving back and volunteering my time again (gradually).  Prior to having children I used to volunteer for several different organizations, but I had to scale back and start being more “stingy” about my time in order to take care of the kids as they were my #1 priority.  Now that the kids are a little older and growing more independent each day, I now feel like I’m ready to start volunteering again even if it’s just in small ways to start.

Therefore, I’ve decided my first way of giving back this year will be to donate books on International Book Giving Day.  I contacted the local Reach Out and Read organization in my area and told them I’m interested in donating books.  If they agree to accept the books (which I don’t see why they wouldn’t), I plan to make a book donation to their organization.  In addition to donating some of my own books, I plan to reach out to several friends and family members to see if they have any books they may want to get off their hands.

Depending on how many books I receive, I also want to make a donation to my local library, hubby’s barber shop, and leave some books in the waiting room at the kids’ pediatrician office.  In each of the books I also plan to insert one of the cute International Book Giving Day bookmarks which can be found here.

So instead of giving the kids chocolates this Valentine’s day why not give a book instead?  Perhaps you agree, but I think chocolate and toys are all very fine and dandy but books, well books are just awesome and last much longer than a box of chocolates ever will.  I’m just saying.

To learn more about International Book giving Day visit their website here.

Your turn: What are your plans for International Book Giving Day?  How will you give back?  Feel free to share in the comments.