Two literacy advocacy organizations—one locally based, the other a national organization—are tweaking their models to effectively and efficiently get books into the hands of children in Minnesota’s Twin Cities who are sheltering in their homes with their families, as ICE continues to target BIPOC immigrants living in the Minneapolis and St. Paul metro areas.
Abby Cooper, the CEO of A Book of My Own, which is headquartered in the Twin Cities, said that she was inspired to launch the organization in 2023 after volunteering for the Minnesota affiliate of Reach Out and Read, a national organization founded in Boston in 1989 that promotes the idea that shared reading between a parent and child is essential to a child’s health and development.
More recently, she was inspired to focus on getting books to children in the Twin Cities metro because so many families have been reluctant to let their children attend school in person.
“Our mission is to get books to children across Minnesota,” Cooper said, “But in January we started focusing on giving books to schools in the Twin Cities metro area, to in turn give to students.”
To date, 4000 Spanish-language books have been donated to 25 public school districts—including 500 books to Liam Conejo Ramos’s school after the five-year-old was detained by ICE. A lesser quantity of Hmong and Somali books also have been donated to schools for distribution to students.
A Book of My Own accepts monetary donations, and uses those funds to purchase books through First Book, an e-bookseller for low-income communities, and local bookstores. The organization has also recently received donations from publishers, ranging from locally-based companies like Lerner Publishing Group, Capstone, and Jump! to Penguin Random House and Norton Books for Young Readers.
“Donations are coming in from everywhere,” she noted, “and people are taking into account what is especially needed: Spanish language books.”
She added that she appreciates support from donors who live in Minnesota, “but what’s really great is when booksellers, publishers, and individuals from outside Minnesota support us.” For instance, The Curious Reader, a children’s bookstore in Glen Rock, NJ raised a $1,000 in donations; and a book club in Milford, Conn. raised more than $900 and bought 90 books on the organization’s Bookshop.org wish list.
“We intend to continue to do this until [the occupation of the Twin Cities] ends or until families feel safe to leave their homes,” Cooper said. “I’ve seen firsthand how books can change lives. Books can provide hope and escape—whatever these kids who haven’t left their homes in months need. It’s so crucial right now.”
Reaching Out for Shared Reading
Reach Out and Read, headquartered in Boston, provides families with young children from birth to age five with books, along with resources promoting early literacy that are handed out during visits with pediatricians.
In late January, Reach Out and Read launched its Books for Neighbors initiative. The program funnels books to Minnesota families, along with the early literacy/wellness resources, via community-based organizations, rather than pediatricians.
According to CEO Lynette Fraga, the organization’s Minnesota affiliate notified national leaders that clinics in the Twin Cities were reporting a drop in families keeping their well-child appointments since the start of ICE’s Operation Metro Surge.
“We were in conversations with Minnesota, and they told us they were going to community outposts to drop off books, as people are sheltering in place,” Fraga said. “Our model starts in the exam room, so we realized that children and families who normally experience the joy of Reach Out and Read at a well-child visit weren't being served. If they weren't going there, how could we support the Minnesota team in getting books where they actually are, getting books into children’s hands at home?”
Reach Out and Read has already sent a shipment of 1,500 books to Minnesota and is earmarking $25,000 for approximately 10,000 multilingual books, as well as early literacy/shared reading resources in various languages (Spanish, Somali, Hmong, Burmese/Karen) to be funneled to families through mutual aid organizations that make home visits. The All About Books distribution company, Scholastic, and Barefoot Books also are partnering with Reach Out and Read and contributing book donations for these families.
“We're talking about very young children, birth to five,” Fraga explained of the Books for Neighbors program. “Some of them haven’t reached school age. We’re really focused on the kinds of services that are available, whether it be through home visitation or other trusted resources, other community-based organizations that reach and touch families.”
Emphasizing the importance of shared reading to create strong connections and to reduce stress, especially when regular routines are disrupted, Fraga told PW, “we’re leaning into the moment, showing up as best we can.”
