About - Books In Hand

Our goal

Holding a book in your hands is a completely different experience than swiping left on a screen. A screen doesn’t smell like a book, you can’t feel the pages turn one by one in your fingers. A screen doesn’t have the dopamine reward of watching the pages pile from the right side to the left side, in the “I can’t stop, just one more page” addiction, until there is one page left, and then none.

There are libraries shuttering, bookstores closing, individuals throwing book collections into dumpsters. And at the same time, there are children, teenagers, people in jails, shelters, hospitals, unhoused persons, elderly, economically disadvantaged people – who want those books. Individuals and organizations are dedicated to getting books to all of these various demographics, and so many people are doing such a wonderful job. But no one group can save every book, or get a book to every person who wants one.

And that’s where Books in Hand sees an unfilled niche, and we will strive to fill it. Our role is like a jigsaw puzzler – we are the ones looking at the outside of the box, seeing the whole picture, figuring out where all of the pieces match. The puzzle is vast, with so many pieces – but the picture on the box is beautiful beyond words.

What does this mean in practicality?

As of December 2025, we are a California Non-Profit, have an EIN, and are waiting on our Federal 501(c)(3) paperwork to go through. Right now, we are still in a time of information gathering. We want to talk to anyone and everyone possible, currently active in the book redistribution and literacy world.

We have learned a lot already, in a few short months! There has been quite a social shift, since 2020, as far as how people interact with books. The established book/literacy groups have had to make adaptations in their operating methods, and are seeing generally fewer in-person humans at their doorsteps. People have more of a desire for new-and-shiny books, and the older-but-good books are devalued in many minds. People also have more of an expectation of remote interaction, and of immediate service.

We have learned which types of books do best with which organization, based on their end-user pool. There are many more organizations to meet and learn about, but the big picture is starting to show itself.

The next few months will be more interaction with folks from various organizations; starting to recruit volunteers; and starting to come up with a viable and simple distribution flow. “This type of book goes to this group for redistribution. This type of book goes to this other group.”

We will also start a few new projects, depending on volunteer availability. Getting books into places that don’t currently have organizations aimed at various end-user niches.

And then… The one- to two-year goal, will be to become a well organized, Bay Area communication and distribution “hub.” Including a forum-based website, where all the various organizations can log on and share resources, books, volunteers, space, etc.

Our 5-year goal is to get enough funding to do fiscal sponsorships. We will do the paperwork, grant-writing, and absorb all the hassle – so that people who want to just do the work of promoting literacy through boks, can jump in. We will provide the money for projects and events. By combining resources, we can get larger financial and physical item grants, and every partner organization that has a reasonable monetary need, will get it filled.

Bottom line – every useable book should go to an end-user. It’s just a matter of figuring out the best way to get them there.

About the Founder

Donna Holsten started reading at 3 years old. She grew up with books in her hands constantly – usually having two or even three different books in progress at any time. As an adult, life drifted toward adulting things, and books became less of a priority. But she has never lost the visceral love of typeset on paper, the smell of old libraries, and the knowledge that she holds the thoughts of another human in her own hands.

Currently, Donna is a hospice nurse. She has worked in clinical care, case coordination, nursing education, and management. She is also active in dog rescue and has done fostering of more dogs than she can even remember. Her hobbies include doing counted cross-stitch, tile-mosaic work, and re-landscaping her yard over and over as the gophers constantly destroy it.

Donna’s super-power is being able to stand outside of the box, see the big picture, and know where every piece of the puzzle needs to go. She is of the age where she is ready for her third and final career, and putting together this jigsaw puzzle of organization and coordination, is the exact culmination of every skill she has developed, throughout her life.

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