Building a Brighter Future: The Impact of the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Partner Network on Community Literacy

Selecting six new books to take home, a little girl eagerly shared her excitement with Books Between Kids Program Manager Paige Wright. Her joy at expanding her book collection, bringing the total number of books to read at home to seven, was moving. Touched by the moment, Wright realized the profound necessity of having access to books in the home and the importance of building a home library for children in her community. What initially felt like a heartwarming moment, quickly turned into a stark reminder of the challenges many children face.

“I was happy that we could get her six books, but it also made me want to cry because she only had one book in her home prior to getting to pick out the free books. That is always something that I think is really kind of touching to show what our mission is and also pretty much everyone in the literacy partner network.”

Although Books Between Kids has been a literacy partner long before her journey with the nonprofit, Wright has taken every chance to attend Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation’s Literacy Partner Network events in her four years.

“I've been going to the meetings for a long time and they're always fascinating. It's great to meet other nonprofits doing similar work and find ways that we can coordinate and work together.”

Books Between Kids is a literacy-focused non-profit with two programs to distribute books to children in the Greater Houston Area: their Book Celebration Program and Community Partners Program. Established in 2013, the Book Celebration Program organizes free book fairs at partner schools where each child selects six books to take home. This year alone, they collaborated with 55 schools, and Paige visits every one of their events to not miss a second of excitement.

Their Community Partner Program allows the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation to play a part in their transformative work. This program enables any nonprofit to supply books to distribute to children. Books Between Kids partners with organizations like housing groups, food pantries, and low-income clinics, providing spaces where children can take home books to add to their home libraries.

“There was a little boy who picked out a book and he just walked around the whole book celebration showing every single person that book. And he went around telling every single person he had wanted that book since Christmas...And now he got it.”

The public can engage through book distributions and volunteer opportunities, such as helping sort books in their warehouse into categories, creating a nostalgic and fun experience for all ages.

You may even end up sorting books that come from the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation. Recently, Books Between Kids received hundreds of titles donated by MamaBear Publishing and a private donor through our Literacy Partner Network’s first-ever book drive.

Wright also reflected on the excitement of receiving brand new books when they normally sort donated books.

“These will be certainly books that the kids will really like which is really exciting for us. And because we accept books donations, not all of our books are brand new. So, I'm always really thrilled to get a donation like that where we can put a brand-new book in their home that you know is going to be good quality.”

With events like the book drive and quarterly Literacy Partner Network meetings, our partners have opportunities to network and fill each other’s needs when it comes to logistics, materials, and workforce. Organizations do not need to be literacy-focused to become a literacy partner but may have an interest in incorporating literacy or have literacy initiatives.

Houston literacy organizations can be part of our quarterly meetings and discover the incredible ways our community is enhancing literacy across Houston. By joining the Literacy Partner Network, you'll gain valuable insights and contribute to meaningful change.

Visit BarbaraBushHouston.org/LiteracyPartners or reach out to us at strategicpartnerships@bushhoustonliteracy.org to get involved.