Children and families depend on you.
Without donors, book drive organizers and other volunteers, the Read to Grow mission of promoting early childhood literacy simply could not be realized.
We are always grateful for any contribution you make, any time you give. Your help directly affects hundreds of thousands of children. You empower families with the gift of books, the knowledge to develop language skills, and the promise of literacy for children.
Ways to make a difference:
There are many reasons and ways to show how much you care. You might consider gifts through:
A campaign for good beginnings
Watch our video taken at the #BooksForEveryBaby launch
The achievement gap starts well before kindergarten.
Babies begin learning the moment they’re born. By age 3, a child’s brain has grown to about 80% of its adult size. Sharing books is a vital way parents help in the development of their baby’s brain and language skills. Yet, 61% of low-income families have no age-appropriate books for their children at home.
If all parents have books for their children and know the importance of reading and talking to their babies — beginning at birth — they can make a world of difference. It’s so simple. It matters so much.
Today Read to Grow provides 61% of all newborns in the state with baby books and literacy guides for their parents. #BooksForEveryBaby aims to reach 100%.
Together, let’s get books to all newborns, guides to their parents, and more books to families who need them.
PLEASE NOTE: Due to COVID-19, we cannot accept walk-in donations. Please sign up here for a drop-off slot. If you have any questions, please call 203.488.6800.
Got books? We welcome your donations of new and gently used children’s books.
Our warehouse bookshelves are replenished by books from generous individuals, families and groups.
We welcome books for children, from newborns to young adults. We are especially in need of board books, picture books, bilingual children’s books, and current books featuring characters of color.
Please note: We want to give children the best quality of books possible. We kindly ask that any books donated be in excellent condition — clean, intact, with no missing/torn pages or covers, free of writing or marks and free of mold and odor.
We do not accept books for adults, library books, magazines, classroom book sets, or outdated nonfiction.
Any program requesting free books should pay a $15 fee if it would like Read to Grow to deliver the order. There is no fee for picking up the free books at our office in Branford.
Before any book delivery to a program occurs, the delivery payment should be made either by check or online through our Book Delivery Payment Form.
All families eligible for delivery, are exempt from delivery fees, but we always encourage book pick-ups at our office.
Tens of thousands of gently used books that come to us every year through book drives account for most of 185,000+ books we give annually.
Our Book Drive Tool Kit gives the how-tos for getting started, running a book collection and then wrapping it up.
Our Book Drive Registration Form is easy to fill out and assists us in working together smoothly.
Volunteers are the backbone of Read to Grow.
We are fortunate to have more than 85 people who give their time and talents. Just last year the corps of dedicated volunteers gave more than 7,000 hours of service.
Volunteers range in age from 16 to 80. Some have been with us for 15 years. They work in our partner hospitals, in our Branford office, on special events, and with other projects.
Many volunteers say the rewards they derive from their service far exceed the efforts they make.
A brief look at some volunteering opportunities: