Repair Children's Books for Local Students (age 10+) *Hands On*

The Children’s Book Bank mission is to advance child literacy, encourage family bonding, and ignite curiosity through the power of books. The Children’s Book Bank narrows the book gap by providing the community with a place for families to donate the books their children have outgrown, moving thousands and thousands of children’s books into the hands of kids that need them.

Bring books back to life and sign up below! Come lend a hand as we spruce-up community donated books which will later be distributed to low-income preschool children in the Portland area! Every gently-used donated book is inspected and cleaned by volunteers. Tasks include wiping covers, taping torn pages, erasing scribbles, covering inscriptions, and reinforcing worn spines. No previous experience with children's books is needed. 

Please note, the CBB location is now fully accessible. If you plan to bring your children or other guests to the event, you MUST reserve slots for them. The best way to do this is to create a Volunteer Team. You can then sign up your team for this project.

All volunteers must complete the following Waiver Form. Please print and bring it with you to the project, to cut down on printing costs for The Children's Book Bank. 

FAQs:  

Can I bring books to donate?  Yes, of course! You are welcome to bring either new or gently-used books with you to this volunteer event. Children’s Book Bank serves children under the age of six, so donations of “read aloud” books are greatly appreciated. Books in Spanish are a particular need. And if you're interested in learning more about hosting a book drive for the Children's Book Bank, we'd love to hear from you! Email bbrock@smartreading.org for more information.

Where do the books go? Children’s Book Bank partners with local agencies to identify families and children in need of books. Last year every Head Start preschooler in Multnomah County received a bag of 15 books of their own to have at home.

Accessibility: 

The Children's Book Bank is a single story, ADA-accessible building, that can be easily accessed by TriMet. If you would like to reserve a parking spot before the session, please email me at bbrock@smartreading.org, so I can hold an accessible parking spot for you.

On site we have a single-stall, gender-neutral bathroom.  If the chairs are uncomfortable or cause any pain during your session, we also have seat cushions available if you ask. 

The Children's Book Bank is now making masking optional. If you would like to request that the session be masking required due to accessibility, we are happy to accommodate that for anyone looking to volunteer. Please give at minimum a week's notice for this request to bbrock@smartreading.org, this in order to give enough notice to the other volunteers attending. 

Project Requirements:

• Volunteers must be 10 years of age or older to attend this project!  In order to attend without a adult chaperone volunteers must be at least 15 years of age or older.

• All volunteers under 18 are required to bring TWO waivers signed by their parent or legal guardian - one for Hands On and one for the Children's Book Bank. Please download, complete, and bring these waivers with you on the day of the project:
  
  Hands On Youth Volunteer Release Form 
  
  Children's Book Bank Youth Release Form

• If you plan to bring children or guests you MUST reserve slots for them. The best way to do this is to create a Volunteer Team, then sign up your team for this project. TEAMS NOTE: if you are signing up as a Team, you are limited to reserving 6 slots. If you have more than 6 in your group please email bbrock@smartreading.org
  
  IMPORTANT NOTE: You are responsible for ensuring that everyone signed up through your team attends - only sign up team members who have confirmed their availability. Teams that repeatedly sign up, but do not show up or show up with fewer volunteers than they signed up, may be removed. To add or remove team members from a project, click on "My Account" and then "My Teams," above.

Click "Sign Up" below to reserve your spot!
Need help signing up? Call 503-200-3355.