This summer, something extraordinary happened at Making Spirits Bright: The Metro Detroit Book Bank.
It started with a dream: get more books into the hands of children who need them most.
Then the books started arriving.
Thanks to the incredible generosity of our partners, Making Spirits Bright was gifted 50,000 brand-new books from The Junior Library Guild, 63,848 books from The Molina Foundation, and another 8,000 books from Storehouse Community Resources.
That’s an incredible 121,848 books—all ready to find their way into the hands of children, families, teachers, and organizations serving underserved communities throughout Metro Detroit.
And that’s where Bookapalooza came in.
A Summer Filled With Books
With more than 120,000 new books arriving, we knew we needed space—and lots of it! We rented a warehouse and transformed it into a bustling book hub for the summer. Thank you Guardian Lightning Protection for allowing us to rent space from you!
Volunteers sorted, organized, moved, packed, and prepared thousands upon thousands of books for distribution. This campaign could NOT have been possible without the help from volunteers Terry and Joanne Elsey, Alea, Kelton and Emmet Shin. Thank you so much!
But we didn’t want these books sitting on warehouse shelves.
We wanted them in the community.
… Bookapalooza!
All summer long, Making Spirits Bright distributed books to nonprofit organizations and teachers who work directly with children and families in underserved communities throughout Metro Detroit.
Every box that left our warehouse represented an opportunity: a child discovering a new favorite character, a teacher adding fresh books to a classroom library, a parent bringing home a bedtime story, or a child realizing, perhaps for the first time, that books belong to them, too.
Unfortunately, too many children in our community live in what are known as book deserts—areas where access to age-appropriate, engaging books is limited.
We’re working to change that.
Books Are Meant to Be Read
The numbers are exciting, but the numbers aren’t really what this is about.
It’s about 121,848 individual opportunities to make a difference.
It’s about the teacher who can put a brand-new book into the hands of a student who desperately needs encouragement.
It’s about the nonprofit that can send a child home with a stack of books instead of an empty backpack.
It’s about the parent who gets to hear, “Read it again!” at bedtime.
That is the heart of Bookapalooza.
Books were donated.
Volunteers showed up.
Teachers and nonprofits opened their doors.
And together, our community turned 121,848 new books into 121,848 possibilities.
What’s next? Our team will rest for a few weeks before we get into schools for our Free Book Fairs!
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