16,000+ Books Collected at New Trier Township Book Drive
New Trier Township hosted their annual children's book drive benefiting Bernie's Book Bank on Friday, June 10th at Winnetka Presbyterian Church. While New Trier Township is no stranger to book drives, the event looked a bit different than in prior years.
To ensure the safety of our team members and donors the book drive moved to a touch-free model. Individuals simply drove through the church parking lot and stopped briefly so a team member could remove donated books from the trunk. All team members wore masks and gloves as an added safety measure.
The one-day drive brought in more than 16,000 books, shattering the township's previous record of 9,800 in 2019.
"New Trier Township has been a fantastic partner for us and has held very successful book drives for the last three years," Used Book Acquisition Specialist, Carol Collier shared. "This event confirmed that a drive-thru event can be very effective for safe book collection."
In total, more than 200 book donors stopped by. While many individuals were from the New Trier area there were also some who came from farther away including Chicago, Glen Ellyn, Grayslake and McHenry.
"The North Shore will not permit something like COVID-19 to squelch its neighborly spirit," Alan Goldberg, Supervisor of New Trier Township stated. "Our partnership with the Winnetka Presbyterian Church and the wonderful staff from Bernie's Book Bank brought in an incredible amount of books for children. We want to thank everyone who donated."
About Bernie's Book Bank
Founded as a 501(c)(3) in September of 2009, Bernie's Book Bank has sourced, processed and distributed more than 18 million quality new and gently used children's books to under-served infants, toddlers and school-age children throughout Chicagoland. Each year, Bernie's Book Bank delivers twelve free quality books to children through their schools and early childhood programs. The mission is to increase book ownership among under-served children to enable and empower them in their pursuit of a brighter future and a better life through reading.
For more information about Bernie's Book Bank, visit www.berniesbookbank.org.