The Toronto Children’s Book Bank

The Toronto Children’s Book Bank Kim Beatty (bio) The Children’s Book Bank (www.childrensbookbank.com) was founded by a group of community volunteers in Toronto, Canada in 2007. These volunteers shared a love of books and reading, along with a large supply of children’s books that their own families had outgrown. The idea was a simple one, to collect the many gently used children’s books that families across Toronto no longer needed and to get these books into the hands of children who might not otherwise own any children’s books themselves. The result was Canada’s first children’s book bank. Over the course of almost a year the group debated different models and approaches to creating a book bank, having finally settled on a storefront model that would operate much like a children’s bookstore. The group divided up the long list of tasks to be completed: setting up the charitable organization, finding space, soliciting donations of fixtures for the space, decorating the space, networking in the literacy and publishing community in Toronto and of course, collecting books. Boxes and boxes of donated books accumulated in garages and basements across Toronto. Soon enough this group of mostly 50+ year-old women were abandoning the gym for the demanding exercise of moving boxes of books. In the [End Page 161] spring of 2008, a team of volunteers was assembled to move hundreds of boxes of books from the various storage spots around the City to the Book Bank’s new storefront space in the Regent Park area of Toronto. Regent Park is one of Toronto’s high-density, low-income communities and is home to many new Canadians. The storefront Book Bank is much like a treasured children’s bookstore in any city. There are shelves and shelves of brightly colored books of every shape and size. There are classic novels and ABC books. There are dictionaries and activity books. There are science books and history books. There are early readers and comic books. There are stuffed animals and posters from our favorite childhood stories, all complimented by knowledgeable and helpful staff members waiting to introduce children to the magic of books and reading. And best of all, the books are free! There are no fees or registration of any kind at the Book Bank. Each visitor is permitted to take and keep one book per visit and families are encouraged to visit often. Many families visit daily. From its very earliest days, the Book Bank has been very busy. Word of mouth has worked effectively in introducing the Book Bank to the Regent Park community, and before too long it was seeing an average of 200 visitors a day. Aside from a few sub zero days in the winters these numbers have held firm for over six years. We are delighted to observe that even with computers, video games and eReaders, children still love books! In its first six years of operation the Book Bank has given away over 450,000 books. On almost any day of the week the Book Bank offers a tableau that would warm the heart of any book lover- parents and children reading together in one of the cozy overstuffed reading chairs, keen young readers immersed in their first chapter-books, children lying on the floor leafing through gorgeous non fiction books, toddlers pulling books off the shelves and of course, babies chewing on board books. The Book Bank operates through a small group of paid staff and a large volunteer base, including many retired teachers and librarians. In addition to assisting with book sorting and organization, volunteers provide literacy advice and support to the children and their families, and also run story time presentations. The Book Bank offers a number of programs through its storefront. In addition to serving drop-in customers, the Book Bank sees many school children through a field trip program called “Stories for Students”. Through this program the Book Bank offers free field trips [End Page 162] to local schools, daycares, summer camps and after school groups. These field trips involve a story time and an opportunity for students to “shop” for a book...

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