Our Mission
Books for every child. Support for every parent. Literacy for every community.
Book Harvest works to realize a world of literacy and justice for all—a world in which every child grows up with an abundant home library from birth and with a love of books, reading, and learning, and every parent feels supported, celebrated, and affirmed in their role as their child's first teacher. Since 2011, children have harvested more than 3 million books to build their home libraries, ensuring that parents have the tools and power to ignite and strengthen their children's literacy.
Our Vision
Literacy and justice for all.
One day, every child will grow up with a love of books, reading, and learning, equipped with the language and literacy tools to thrive in school, work, and life.
What We Believe
With programs grounded in evidence, Book Harvest believes that literacy starts at birth, in the home, powered by parents, and nourished with books.
Home Libraries are Fundamental to Literacy: Having a home library from birth is necessary to children's literacy development and lifelong success. Vocabularies flourish. Empathy thrives. Curiosity ignites. Children learn.
Literacy Starts at Birth: Parents and caregivers are their children's first and most important brain builders, teachers, advocates, and nurturers. Simple activities woven into everyday interactions between parent and child build the foundation that lasts a lifetime.
Summer is Critical: Summer is a critical time for students to retain their learning gains from the school year. Students from low-income homes don't have equitable access to books.
Parents Make a Difference: We must equip parents with a starter home library, to ignite literacy for their newborn from day one.
Our Core Values
All children have the right to own books from birth.
Parents know what is best for their children and are passionately committed to their success.
All children are born with the ability to succeed.
Books must serve as "mirrors, windows and sliding glass doors" for all children, honoring diverse backgrounds, languages, abilities, and perspectives.
We CAN create the world our children deserve through collective goodness and collective action.
We are committed to research and continuous self-assessment.
Our Story
Chapter One of Book Harvest's story began in 2011. The setting was a dusty garage filled with donated books, and the cast of characters was small—just a handful of quirky dreamers eager to join Founder Ginger Young in unlocking book ownership and a love of a good story for children in Durham, North Carolina. From those humble origins, Book Harvest's story has been written with a momentum that could have never been imagined—from a few boxes of donated books in a garage to more than 3 million books harvested by children and families.
With 15 years of experience, Book Harvest is now expanding its mission and impact beyond its flagship community of Durham, bringing what it knows to other communities across the country. Now more than ever—when less than half of all U.S. children who live in poverty enter kindergarten ready to learn—it is an imperative.
Our Impact
More than 3 million Book Harvest books have been harvested by children since 2011. Books are the catalyst for robust vocabularies, empathy, curiosity, and creativity—and the foundation for a lifelong love of reading. It's an impact that is transforming lives, book by book.
Programs
- Family and Community Engagement
- Book Babies
- School-Age Initiatives
bookharvest.org