Kayla Hicks - Author Kayla Hicks - Author

Free Books for Kids Program

3 min read

For kids who have little to no access to book during the summer months

I have some news and I hope that there are some people out there who are willing to help me out.

I know this is a long time coming, however, I think this will take a bit of time to build.

I am a huge advocate for young readers.

And being in the position of an Author and having slowly built my audience, I would really like to give back. By this, I mean by providing access to young readers who don’t have access to books.

If you didn’t see my previous post, during the summer months, there are many children who don’t have access to books or libraries. And the decline in their vocab and reading level slightly decreases over the two to two and half month span that they are away from school.

Having been a kid who didn’t have access to libraries or many books during the summer months, this really resonates with me.

I’ve given this a lot of thought, and I am aware it will take a bit to build.

I would like to build a stock of books from now until the summer of 2024 either ones that I thrift or ones that are donated and give them to children for free.

This would mean that by June 2024, I would have a decent supply of books that I could offer to kids. I am planning on compiling a list of parks and grocery stores that would allow me to set up a table and pass out free books to children who would want one.

In addition to this, I would also plan to pass out a map that contains the locations of Free Little Libraries in our area as well as information about local libraries in my area.

If you or anyone you know would be interested in donating a book to a cause such as this, I would be so appreciative. Or if you know any children’s authors who would be willing to donate a book or two as well.

I am looking for books for ages birth to 5th grade which are new or gently used.

As of right now, I have around 20 books set aside for next summers Free Books for Kids.

Here is a form for information on how to sign up to donate.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc4N9X0k2Lr2YHnRVSGbDbNyo-iIeTQ0I_9Z8F6xRBUE0bbmw/viewform?usp=pp_url