Inspiring Young Readers
kwame mbalia and nikkolas smith presenting “a hero looks like you’ at belle haven elementary in east palo alto, february 2025
Our goal is to champion and preserve the joy of reading for generations to come! Thanks to tax-deductible gifts from generous donors in our community, we can partner with under-resourced school districts and community centers in our area, especially the Ravenswood School District in East Palo Alto. For the past decade, we’ve brought award-winning authors to public school campuses to share great stories and spark a love of reading. Over 15,000 students have participated in these programs, and we have donated more than 5,000 books to the schools’ libraries, classrooms and children.
shawn harris at belle haven community campus, march 2025
In recent years we have connected students with legendary authors like Coretta Scott King Award-winning author Kwame Mbalia, bestselling children’s author Rick Riordan, Caldecott-winning author and illustrator Shawn Harris, and the incomparable Jason Reynolds, winner of the Newbery Prize, and Coretta Scott King Awards. Students at Eastside Academy, Belle Haven Elementary, Hillview Elementary, Eastside Prep, East Palo Alto Academy, and more have received their own copies of these author’s books. Students also received free tickets to events in store, or met the authors live in their own classrooms or community centers.
students in palo park receiving free copies of rick riordan’s '“wrath of the triple goddess”, september 2024
As the public school landscape continues to change, we work hard to change with it. Even in 2020, with schools closed to in-person learning, we re-envisioned our program so we could continue to support the students and nurture their passion for reading and writing. Through our innovative online programming, all 1,800 Ravenswood district students were able to hear from award-winning authors through original videos we produced; videos featured introductions to the author’s books, frequently asked questions, and writing tips. Every student then received a copy of the book along with a companion journal to use for their own writing.
Our programming is underwritten in part by the Meta Local Community Fund.