September has now ended, which means so did my library’s Diverse Book Drive, and I want to give so many thanks to everyone who donated and participated!
I thought it went really well, and it wouldn’t have been possible without all your support and generosity! I’ve never seen my tiny local library’s shelves so full of diverse books, and they haven’t even all been catalogued yet!
But that’s not quite what you’re here for, is it? I bet you want some cold, hard facts, right? Well, let’s get down to the details, then, shall we?
There were a total of 58 new books donated in September!
Of these books, there was 1 easy reader, 13 middle grade, 35 young adult, and 9 adult books.
Here’s the first round of books, all catalogued and ready, right before they officially hit the shelves of the library:
There’s more where that came from, too! Because our senior cataloger is 94 years old (yes, you read that number right … she’s my idol!), cataloguing is a little slow since she’s working from home for her own safety. So books have to go out to her house for the initial process before coming back in for the last steps before they go on the shelf. It’s a whole thing.
The first book drive book to officially get checked out is … The Girl Who Speaks Bear!
This was a really special sort of checkout, too, which is why I want to share it. See, the woman in question (because indeed, it was an adult) has been a patron of the library for years, mostly for the movies. She’s struggled with reading since a child, so she just never did it. Last year, we really encouraged her to take part in the adult winter reading, and she did! At least every other day, she came in to read books. The early reader sort, which she was embarrassed of at first, but we always encouraged her and asked about her reading and how it was going.
Long story short, a year ago, this woman was reading maybe first grade level books. She’s spent the past year really working on her reading ability, and guys, she’s come such a long way! The Girl Who Speaks Bear is a middle tier middle grade read and the chunkiest book I’ve ever seen her check out! Also, this is a woman who was born and raised in this county and has never left, so mission success, guys. She is literally experiencing a culture she will never have to experience in real life and likely would’ve never thought to read about previously.
Meet the Tour Hosts & Their Recommended Reads
So many thanks to these people here! They’re all absolutely fabulous, and they donated their time and effort to help with this blog tour. Click on the title of their recommended book to check out the blog post they wrote for this!
Leelynn Sometimes Leelynn Reads Dating Makes Perfect | Lauren Always Me The Epic Crush of Genie Lo |
Toya The Reading Chemist Felix Ever After | Michelle Carry A Big Book Sharks in the Time of Saviors |
Shenwei READING (AS)(I)AN (AM)ERICA The Astonishing Color of After | Maria Daughter of Parchment & Paper Patron Saints of Nothing |
Bri Bri’s Book Nook True Friends (Carmen Browne) | Bec Bec&books Lobizona |
Jorie Jorie Loves A Story Top Ten Diverse Stories Jorie Felt Deeply Connected To Whilst Reading | Sienna Daydreaming Book Lover Loveless |
Keri Keri McBookNerd Raybearer | Noly The Artsy Reader The Name Jar |
Keri Are You My Book? The Tea Dragon Society | Shannon It Starts At Midnight The Space Between Worlds |
Melissa Ramblings of a Jedi Librarian Girl in Translation | Livy Shelves of Starlight Clap When You Land |
Crystal Lost in Storyland American Born Chinese | Lili Lili’s Blissful Pages A Wish in the Dark |
Leslie Books Are The New Black The Poppy War | Noura The Perks of Being Noura Love From A to Z |
Crini Crini A Pale Light in the Black | Rachelle Rae’s Reads and Reviews Dear Haiti, Love Alaine |
Dini DiniPandaReads Wicked As You Wish | Madeline Mad’s Books Spin the Dawn |
Tessa Narratess Brace Yourself | Kimberly My Bookish Bliss Truly Madly Royally |
Rena Bookflirting 101 Anna K: A Love Story | Arina Bookwyrm’s Guide to the Galaxy A Song of Wraiths and Ruin |
Maya Awesome Reads Jackpot | Sammie The Bookwyrm’s Den Paola Santiago & the River of Tears |
Wanted to donate? It’s not too late!
If you thought you missed your chance, don’t fret! I’m going to leave the wishlist for the blog tour books open for the rest of this month, so there’s still time to make a late donation if you want.
The Amazon wishlist can be found here.
The Book Depository wishlist can be found here.
Oh my god this is so cool! I’m definitely going to donate a book when I can! I’m so happy the girl decided to check out The Girl who Speaks Bear, that’s so wonderful. 💕
Thank you so much! I’m just excited to see people checking the books out. 😀
I’m glad I could help out! What a success story!
Thank you so much for your help. <3 Couldn't have done it without you all.
Congratulations on the success, and I loved hearing the story of the library patron (congrats to her on that reading progress too!) 😊
Thanks so much! I’m glad I could share it.
So awesome! I love that story. So great to help out people who are new to reading for pleasue.
Nicole @ BookWyrm Knits recently posted…Goodreads TBR Declutter #37
Yes! I love seeing more people come to the dark si– I mean, reading for fun. *cough*
Oh wow, this is so cool!
Lisa @ waytoofantasy recently posted…Halloween Book Tag!
I’m not sure how I missed this last month. Maybe I spent more of the month reading than blog-hopping than I thought?? But I’m glad I saw it before it was too late. I ordered a book off the wishlist. You should get it this week. <3
Dedra @ A Book Wanderer recently posted…ARC Book Review | Swamp Thing: Twin Branches by Maggie Stiefvater
Hey, can’t complain if you spend your time reading! It’s a good way to spend it. Thank you so much, though! I did get it, and it’s gone to cataloging already. :3
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