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Success!

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On Tuesday, September 27, 428 children

joined us at the James J. Eagan Center in Florissant

to hear stories, have a snack, and then choose

4 new books to take home and keep. 

Presenting Sponsor

Arthur and Helen Baer Foundation

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Sponsors

Saigh Foundation

Staenberg Family Foundation,

a supporting foundation of Jewish Federation of St. Louis

Sam's Club Store #8182 & #8125

David & Valerie Weber

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We'd also like to thank

Eye See Me African American Children's Bookstore, St. Louis County Library Foundation, Delta Dental, the City of Florissant: Parks and Recreation Department, and the James J. Eagan Center

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See our Events page for more info

Mission Statement

Books for STL Kids provides new books to children from low-income families.

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About Us

We are a 100% volunteer-run organization that reaches children through existing preschool and after-school programs, thus assisting these organizations in tackling illiteracy by providing new books to the children they serve. All books that are distributed by Books for STL Kids are brand new and are provided at no cost. 

Locally, Books for STL Kids has given away more than 199,000 new books to children in the greater St. Louis area.

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How We Do It

We provide only new books to children in two unique ways:

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• We provide book grants to qualifying organizations that serve low-income children in the Greater St. Louis area. These recipient groups are awarded book credits to purchase books on the First Book Marketplace (www.fbmarketplace.org) at 50-90% off retail prices. The groups are able to select the titles and quantities that best fit the children they serve. These books are then shipped directly to the organization. All books given go home with the children so they can start a library of their own at home.

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• We provide books directly to children at various community events throughout the year, including our signature project, The Largest Book Party in St. Louis.

Our next grant cycle

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Our Winter Grant Cycle application deadline is December 30, 2022. See our Grants page for more information.

Our COVID-19 Response

Books for STL Kids has been quick to respond to the need for books for students who need them most. When we learned that many school districts and other organizations were providing free lunches for their kids, we knew we could offer a book as well to join the distribution method that was already in place. We call it “lunch and a book”, and over the course of seven weeks, we provided more than 3,000 new books to the following organizations:

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• University City School District - 400 books + 200 bookmarks

• Ritenour School District - 597 books

• The Christ Call Jeremiah Ministry - 168 books

• Lift for Life Academy - 157 books

• Cahokia School District - 457 books

• Staunton School District - 320 books

• Wentzville School District - 826 books

• We also provided some books to Unleashing Potential, PAT Ferguson/Florissant, and Vashon Academy