Want to help local children read? WAKE UP and Read drive seeks to collect 130,000 books.
The call has gone out for people to donate more than 130,000 books so that low-income Wake County children will have books they can take home to read over the summer.
WAKE UP and Read on Saturday will kick off its 2020 Book Drive, a six-week campaign that runs through Feb. 15, to collect new and gently used children’s books.
The goal is to collect enough books so that children at 13 Wake County elementary schools and 17 childcare facilities can have 10 books they can keep to build up their home libraries.
The book drive is kicking off with the opening of the group’s new headquarters at 1820 Capital Blvd. in Raleigh. Saturday’s event, which runs from noon to 2 p.m., will include tours of the new space, networking opportunities, volunteer recruitment information and the opportunity to participate in the creation of a mural by local artist Caryn Sterling.
WAKE Up and Read was formed in 2012 by the Wake County school system in partnership with several community groups to promote childhood literacy.
Last year’s book drive collected a record 138,000 books. That was more than double the 67,000 books collected in the group’s first annual book drive in 2014.
Books can be dropped off at sites across the county, including Quail Ridge Books, Marbles Kids Museum and Learning Express locations. A map of collection sites, as well as information about additional volunteer opportunities and events, can be found at www.wakeupandread.org.
