2008 Holiday Book Drive: A Million Plus Success!

With the help of our enthusiastic booksellers and the generous donations from our customers, Barnes & Noble collected more than 1.2 million books through the 2008 Holiday Book Drive.  That’s more books than we’ve ever collected to help needy children in communities across the country!  In addition, Barnes & Noble and Sterling Publishing donated another 100,000 books to First Book, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to provide disadvantaged children with new books.

All of our stores went the extra mile to make their drives a celebration of literacy in their communities.  “From day one of our store’s book drive, we kept our booksellers motivated by reminding them that we are giving children the gift of literacy,” says Abby Land, community relations manager of the Jacksonville, NC, store. 

Community partners, including schools, libraries, social service organizations, Boys & Girls Clubs, Big Brothers Big Sisters organizations, Reach Out and Read, First Book, United Way and the Salvation Army, have already begun to distribute the books collected by each of our stores.

“Every year we receive so many wonderful compliments from customers, booksellers and especially from recipient organizations about our Holiday Book Drive,” says Sarah DiFrancesco, director of community relations.  “The results of this year's drive are a reflection of the passion of our booksellers and the generosity of our customers.”

Click here to review a complete listing of organizations benefiting from our Holiday Book Drive.

Photos: (Top) CRM Abby Land helps distribute books to children at the USO’s annual “Breakfast with Santa.”  (Bottom) The Hunstville, AL, store donated books to kids from Huntsville Inner City Learning, Girls Incorporated, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and the Boys & Girls Club.