Big Day of Giving

Give to Sacramento Kids on Big Day of Giving

Make a difference for Sacramento kids on Big Day of Giving with a gift to the Friends of the Sacramento Public Library. Even a small gift makes a big difference to inspire the love of reading for a lifetime.

What will my gift do?
Your donation will put books into the hands of kids in our highest-need schools, inspire a love of reading, and help connect children to the library at a critical time in their development. Your support makes the library’s annual Book First program and Summer Reading Challenge possible community-wide. Having access to books empowers children to read what they love and further their learning journey.


This year, our goal is to support 14,000 students in 550 classrooms during the 2024-25 school year through Book First and to reach and support 17,000 youth readers through the Summer Reading Challenge. 

 
$25 = Books to support 8 readers
$75 = Books for 25 readers (1 classroom)
$200 = Books for 60 readers (1 school)
$350 = Buy 120 books for Summer Reading
$500 = Book giveaway for 1 youth outreach event
$1,000 = Joy of Reading Champion
$2,500 = Lifelong Love of Reading Superstar
 
What is Book First?
Each year, Sacramento Public Library and the Friends of the Sacramento Public Library team up to visit classrooms and put two books in the hands of each first grader in our highest-need schools in Sacramento County. For many students, the books they take home are their very first books and help spark the joy of reading. The Book First program is a first step to building a home library, providing children with access to books they love, helping them become confident and enthusiastic readers, and fueling their potential. 

Since 2016, we’ve provided books to nearly 100,000 kids in our region. The pandemic never stopped us from continuing Book First. This school year, we delivered 28,000 books for first graders in 180 schools. The Book First philosophy continues beyond the school year through the library’s extensive collection of beginning reader books and our annual Summer Reading Challenge that helps to strengthen reading skills. 



What students are saying about Book First:
“I get to keep this book forever? Really?"

"Wow! This is great! I don’t have many books at my house!"

"I can’t wait to read to my baby brother!"

What teachers are saying about Book First:
“Many of my students don’t have books at home and can’t get to the library.”

“Just them getting a book has a big impact. Many of my students have very few books at home to read.”

“The students still talk about, ‘Remember when we went to the library and they gave all of us a book?’” 

What is Summer Reading?
While we work with students all school year, summer is a great time to give them the freedom to read whatever they choose. Encouraging youth to read for fun through Sacramento Public Library’s Summer Reading Challenge helps build lifelong readers. This summer, we’ll support 17,000 kids and teens in reading and completing engaging activities to earn a free book. Super readers will even earn a Summer Reading medal!



What our community is saying about Summer Reading:
“I look forward to it every summer now! I love to read already but this adds such a fun, extra twist to it! I can’t wait to do it again next summer!”

“I love the encouragement to read every day.”

“What a great way to get the whole family involved in reading over the summer!”

“Such a great program! My kid loves filling out her reading journal and tracking her books read.”

“From beginning to end, summer reading was motivating and encouraging for me; I can’t wait till next summer!”