Books In Hand

Our goal:

There are thousands of passionate people in Northern California, who just want to get books into readers’ hands. We all know that books are the gateway to critical thinking, creativity, scientific advancement, and every other vital component of functioning as complete humans in a cohesive society.

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 left, and then none.

There are libraries closing, 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.

There are individuals and groups 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 a need, and will strive to fill it. Our goal is to save every book, and get a book into every hand. Our five-year goal, is to coordinate the efforts of all of the book donation non-profit organizations in Northern California. One group might have an excellent business model. Let’s share it! No need to re-create the wheel over and over. Another group might have storage space available. Awesome! Who needs space? A third group might have an excess of volunteers. Woo-hoo! Does anyone need help this weekend? Maybe this group only wants kids’ books, that group only wants soft-covers, another group only wants non-fiction large print. Take it all! Don’t refuse any donation! Books in Hand will sort and redistribute, so no viable book ends up in the dumpster.

This will be a long road, and right now, we are here to learn. What is your group doing? How are you doing it? What works and what doesn’t? What do you need? What would make this task easier or more rewarding? What are the stumbling blocks? How are you solving those problems?

If you are an individual or non-profit organization, and you want to become involved, if you have excess resources or books, or if you need resources or books, please reach out!