Table of Contents A Special Delivery .............0200008 3 Little Kid, Big Idea ow... eee 5 Steps to SUCCESS ok cece eee 7 BookEnds Is Born... eee eee eee 10 Brandon's Work ..........0.. eee eee 12 Glossary .... 0.0... cece 15 Index 0c eee eee 16 A Special Delivery Children at Hoover School waited all morning long for a special delivery. They raced to the windows when the truck pulled up and watched the driver open the truck’s back door. Slowly, he lifted the handle and pushed the door up. Inside the truck were rows and rows of cardboard boxes. The children watched as the driver loaded the boxes on a cart headed for the library. Their special delivery was finally here! The driver wheeled the boxes into the school. Now even the teachers were excited. They lined up their students and quickly walked to the library.Hoover School did not have many books, but the special delivery was going to change all of that. Now the school would have a new library, and the students would have more choices of books. This special delivery came from an organization called BookEnds, which provided books to schools that needed them. Thanks to BookEnds, many schools have more books for children to read. i all TT bl gi yhflihs . Little Kid, Big Idea Over the course of 16 years, BookEnds donated more than 2.8 million books to children. How did BookEnds start? The idea came from eight-year-old Brandon Keefe. One day in 1993, Brandon's mom, Robin Keefe, took him to work with her. Brandon's mother worked for an organization that helped children and provided a place for them to live called Hollygrove Children’s Home. While he was there, he went to a meeting. He learned that they had a room for a new library in the center, but they had no books and very little money. Where could they get books for the new library? Brandon wished there was a way that he could help. The next day, Brandon went to school. His third-grade teacher asked the class, “What can you students do to help your community?”Brandon knew the answer right away. He told his class about where his mother worked and about the new children’s library. He mentioned that they needed more books. Brandon suggested that his school help find books for the children. Everyone liked Brandon's idea. Giving books to the library would be a great way to help the community. The only question left was this: How would they find books? A few weeks later, Brandon organized a book drive at his school. Many of his classmates and other students helped. Everyone worked together to put Brandon's idea into action. Steps to Success So how did Brandon and his friends make their book drive a success? They followed these steps to organize a book drive. STEP 1: Find a Place That Needs Books Brandon knew that several places in his community would benefit from the book drive. Schools, hospitals, and community centers had libraries. Brandon chose Hollygrove Children’s Home as the place he would help because the home did not have enough money to get books for their library. Brandon knew that his school’s help would make a big impact.STEP 2: Spread the Word Next, Brandon spread the word. He knew that the more people who knew about the book drive, the more books he would collect. He told his friends, his family members, and everyone in the community. Brandon explained whom he wanted to help and why, People wanted to help, so they started gathering books for the book drive, STEP 3: Collect the Books. Then Brandon set up a location for him and his schoolmates to collect books. People placed the books they brought into designated boxes. Before they knew it, the books started pouring in. Students brought in books they had already read or no longer needed. In the end, the school collected 847 books! They included mysteries, fairy tales, nonfiction, and all sorts of other books. STEP 4: Check the Books After the books arrived, Brandon and his classmates checked the books. They made sure the books did not have ripped or missing Pages. Mast of the books were in good shape, so the students packed them in boxes to be delivered to the Hollygrove Children’s Home library. STEP 5: Give the Books Finally, Brandon and his friends brought the books ta the children’s library where they filled the shelves with all of the books. The children in the home were happy to have so many books to read, Their joy made Brandon feel good about what his school accomplished.BookEnds Is Born Brandon's mother liked Brandon's book drive idea, and they both wanted to help more children. So in 1998, Robin Keefe started BookEnds. BookEnds had more book drives, and people continued to donate books. Children volunteered their time to organize and check the books. Then BookEnds donated the books to schools, shelters, hospitals, and other places where children needed them. Brandon’s big idea was involving more people than ever. Brandon and his mother had two goals for BookEnds. The first goal was to increase children’s access to books so they could become better readers. The second goal was to encourage volunteerism in students. From 1998 to 2014, more than 300,000 student volunteers helped collect books. They gave books to hundreds of school libraries. 10 More than 1 million children have benefitted from books collected and donated by BookEnds. Tile meel Miele) cM Bled to ite | Pane) 200,000 ti) 1998 2001 2006 20 1112 Brandon's Work Brandon worked hard for BookEnds. He gave speeches about helping others. Also he visited many schools and talked to teachers and students. People around the country wanted to hear about Brandon's work and dedication. Newspapers printed many articles about him, and he was even interviewed on television! Brandon talked about how important reading is. Without books, children cannot develop their reading skills. Brandon also said that book drives are like recycling. People give away their old books, and then the books are used again by children who need them. Everyone wins! How Donated Books Are Used Teachers who received books from BookEnds were asked how they used them, All the teachers used the books they received, and none of them reported not using the books, Here are the results. 13Brandon's work with BookEnds taught him an important lesson: Sharing books can change lives. The children who received the books were grateful because they had many books to read, thanks to Brandon. Helping people in the community made Brandon feel great, too. BookEnds inspired many children to help their communities. Schools all over the country have started book drives, and some schools have permanent crates outside so people can donate books at any time. Brandon’s plan to help the community was a success. Maybe Brandon even inspired you. You can change people's lives, too. All it takes is a big idea. 14 Glossary benefit: to be useful crates: large boxes used to hold and carry items dedication: willingness to stick with something and not give up delivery: something that is sent from one person to another permanent: cannot be removed spread: to let other people know volunteerism: acting with kindness to help other people in need 15