Holiday Children’s Book Drive 2024

November 15 - December 23

This holiday season the Literacy Council of Frederick County is partnering with ACNB Bank, Curious Iguana, and Phoenix Mecano for our 18th Annual Holiday Book Drive to provide new and gently-used books for elementary school aged children (PreK through 5th grade). Last year, over 900 children’s books were donated!

The Literacy Council works with adults 18 years and older, many of whom are supporting families and young children. Providing appealing, age-appropriate books to children fosters literacy at a young age and helps to break the cycle of low literacy in families. The donated books from this annual book drive are given to parents of children in elementary school who are participating in the Literacy Council’s tutoring, parent literacy, workplace, or class instruction programs.

The Literacy Council works directly with the Judy Center and Butterfly Ridge, Hillcrest, Lincoln, Monocacy, Tuscarora, and Waverley Elementary Schools to provide programs at the schools for parents whose children attend these schools, and many of our other students also have young children with whom to share the books. Books will also be distributed to children at community outreach events throughout the year.

Suggestions for younger grades include: board books, picture books (fiction and nonfiction), early chapter books; and for older grades: mid-grade chapter books, paperback series, graphic novels, and STEM titles. Donors often like to share a childhood favorite or just encourage the habit of reading in a child. We request no religious holiday themed books so that we are not limited in distributing them.

To participate in the Holiday Book Drive, you may purchase and donate books between November 15 and December 23 at Curious Iguana (www.curiousiguana.com) in downtown Frederick (12 N. Market St.) – please designate your purchase to the Literacy Council’s Holiday Book Drive and Curious Iguana will collect them in a bin at their store.