Do you remember the first time you opened a book?

How about when, as a child, you discovered a book series you couldn’t stop reading?

Unfortunately, for children of families living in poverty across the U.S., and specifically in California’s Bay Area, these experiences are not the norm. Many kids in poorer areas have few or no libraries within walking or bike-riding distance. There’s little or no funding for school libraries in the state of California, which have old, worn out collections of books and run down facilities due to school districts’ budget cuts.

That’s where Access Books Bay Area (ABBA) comes in. They’re dedicated to providing high quality, culturally relevant books, as well as a transformed school library space, to K–8 students living in poverty. ModSquad is proud to support this charitable organization’s important mission.

California has the lowest literacy rate of any U.S. state. It falls below the per-capita national average of libraries per person.

Across the country, many school libraries are critically underfunded, with books about VCRs and the Soviet Union commonplace.

In a place like Silicon Valley, it can be hard to convince companies to donate “traditional” paper books when there are digital options available. However, ebooks require access to reliable power for charging, an internet connection, and money for the devices.

Meanwhile, studies show that higher literacy rates lead to more successful people, better school performance, and lower crime. That’s why ABBA has taken on the goal of updating school libraries that are in desperate need.

Since 2016, ABBA has donated thousands of new and gently used books and renovated elementary and middle school libraries across the Bay Area, bringing in new furniture, painting walls, and replacing old or outdated books with more meaningful options. ABBA’s Southern California sister organization’s book donations run in the millions.

But when COVID shut everything down, ABBA had to make some quick pivots. How do you get books to students when they can’t go to school?

ABBA quickly created their own Little Free Libraries. By placing strategic libraries across low income neighborhoods, ABBA continued their mission of providing books to Bay Area children. Those books are definitely well loved and appreciated; when one of the board of directors went to refill the libraries, the kids were already lined up, waiting!

ABBA is also excited to start a partnership with Read in Color, a subset of Little Free Library that strives to provide greater diversity to libraries. That can be a difficult feat, considering only 25% of children’s books have non white characters in them. ABBA is proud to be a part of this important mission to share diversity across the Bay Area.

If you’d like to help, you can find out if your employer will match your charitable donation to ABBA. They’re also always willing to accept new or gently used books, which is the priciest part of the renovation process.

At ModSquad, not only do we support this important organization, but we’re proud to have one of our own employees serving as an ABBA board member.

Next time you pick up your favorite book or ebook, take some time to think of giving back to your community with a book donation!

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