The energy is pure excitement when children receive books, says Michael Shipley, executive director of nonprofit Bring Me a Book St. Louis. “One mother and son sat there for 20 minutes trying to pick the seven perfect books,” he says, recalling a recent event at a South County apartment complex. “The kids are so excited—it’s like a Christmas party.”
Founded by Judy Koch in Silicon Valley in 1997, the nonprofit provides literature to underserved communities through three programs. Team members deliver books—seven for each student—to schools and communities across Missouri and Illinois in the Book Bus bookmobile, a custom Dodge cargo van. Shipley curates more than 1,000 titles for the bookmobile, making selections appropriate for grade-schoolers while trying to appeal to a variety of interests. The organization has donated more than 1,000 box libraries—each holding 35 books—to elementary schools and community facilities across the region. The boxes, built by the St. Louis Woodworkers Guild, are delivered for use as classroom libraries, library book boxes, or display spaces for children’s growing collections at home. The boxes “show [students] the importance of literacy, that their parents and their schools think they should have these books,” Shipley says.
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Last year, the Library of Congress Literacy Awards honored the nonprofit with the Fostering a Love of Reading Award. This year, Shipley hopes to connect the local chapter with more school districts and communities and do more to help children “become lifelong learners and feel important.”
