give from the heart…
…AND the head. Many book donation programs don't take into consideration the racial and ethnic make-up of the group receiving the books. That's why I was so excited about the GuysLitWire donation project last year (where Native American teens chose the books they wanted in their library), and now Ari at Reading in Color has come up with something just as great—read below and GIVE!
C.O.L.O.R.
Coalition Of Librarians and Online Readers
Online readers being those of us who lurk around book blogs. The librarians (as of right now) are all librarians who blog. The end goal being to donate at least 25 books in two months to a library that could use a little extra TLC. I have four libraries as of right now and depending on the success of the project, more librarians and libraries will be added.
How it works: I provide the link to the wishlist. You buy the books. You are welcome to donate multiple copies of books on the wishlist. If you wish to donate a book of your own, please email the respective librarian or myself first (if possible). To start off, we are using the Book Depository so that international readers have no excuse not to participate 
(unless they happen to be in one of the few countries the Book Depository does not mail to).
Why?: Budget cuts for libraries are increasing. Many of us love libraries and I want to help by sending books to libraries that have been hit hard by the budget cuts. A bonus is that I would like to only send books by/about people of color for children and teenagers, both fiction and non fiction. For now I am focusing on middle schools (6th-8th) and high schools in the U.S. The ideal scenario is to send books about Asians/Black people/Latinos and Native Americans to the library, but to have the majority of the books match the ethnicity of the students.
First up is Edi from Crazy Quilts (I highly recommend you check out her blog first, you won't be able to resist wanting to help this warm and informative librarian). Read my blogger spotlight with Edi.
Edi is a librarian at Arlington Community High School in Indianapolis, Indiana. The majority of her students (90%) are Black. To learn more about the school (including a matchup of Arlington Community High School students who pass their grades versus the state average, which is depressing to say the least) go here.
Project for Arlington Community High School begins: February 11, 2011
Ends: April 11, 2011
Now that I've gotten you all eager to help out, go to the wishlist I made for The Book Depository; from there you can easily buy the book and mail it out, easy peasy.
For your convenience I've included the wishlist titles below:
A Year in Japan by Kate T Williamson
Tales of Otori (1,2,3) by Lian Hearn
Zaharah the Windseeker by Nnedi Okarafor
Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self by Danielle Evans
Dragon Road by Laurence Yep
A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge by Josh Neufeld
Asleep by Wendy Raven McNair
Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea; Burma Chronices by Guy Delisle
Aya: The secret comes out vol 3
Still I Rise: A Graphic History of African Americans by Roland Laird, Taneshia Nash Laird, Elihu , "Adofo" Bey, and Charles Johnson
Greatest Stars of the NBA Volume 1: Shaquille O'Neal by Tokyopop and Nba
Michelle Obama (Female Force) by Neal Bailey and Joshua LaBell
The Civil Rights Freedom Train (Comix With Content) by Bentley Boyd
All the Rage: The Boondocks Past and Present by Aaron McGruder
Nat Turner by Kyle Baker
Miss Emily the Yellow Rose of Texas by Ben Durr
Yellow Rose the Myth of Emily Morgan by Douglas Brode
Bessie Coleman: Daring Stunt Pilot (Graphic Biographies) by Robbins, Trina, Steacy, and Ken
Captain America: Truth by Robert Morales and Kyle Bake
Fist stick knife gun a personal history of violence by Geoffrey Canada (graphic novel)
Tall Story by Candy Gourlay
Black Frontiers: A History of African American Heroes in the Old West by Lillian Schlissel
Jackie Ormes: The First African American Woman Cartoonist by Nancy Goldstein
Buffalo Soldiers and the American West (Graphic Library, Graphic History) by Glaser, Jason, Smith, and Tod
Booker T. Washington: Great American Educator (Graphic Library: Graphic Biographies) [Paperback]by Braun (Author), Eric (Author), Martin (Illustrator), Cynthia (Illustrator)
Graphic Myths and Legends: Sinbad: Sailing into Peril: an Arabian Tale (Graphic Universe) by Marie P. Croalland Clint Hilinski
Beowulf: Monster Slayer (A British Legend) (Graphic Universe) [Paperback] by Paul D. Storrie (Author), Ron Randall (Illustrator)
Isis & Osiris: To the Ends of the Earth (Graphic Myths and Legends) [Paperback] by Jeff Limke (Author), David Witt (Illustrator)
