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Like many of our community partners and child advocates, we believe that literacy is a right and all children need access to high-quality books. As such, our team at the North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation is collecting for WAKE Up and Read’s 10th Annual Children’s Book Drive from Friday, January 20 through Friday, February 24. Building inclusive home libraries is one of their biggest initiatives and they need our support! 
Thanks to community support for last year’s book drive, in 2022 more than 20,000 children received books to help build their home libraries. Wake Up and Read partnered with 15 WCPSS schools and 17 childcare centers and continued to grow community-based partner distributions. Book Drives build home libraries and Wake Up and Read hopes to serve even more children and families in 2023.
Shared Mission: Communities Supporting NC Reading Success
Wake Up and Read is one of the NC Campaign for Grade-Level Reading communities and many of our team members live in Wake County so we’d like to take this moment to give where we live to children, families, educators and nearby community partners.
Since 2015, the North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation has served as the state lead for the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading in North Carolina. The national Campaign for Grade-Level Reading has mobilized 300 communities across the country to ensure that more children from low-income families succeed in school and graduate prepared for college, a career and active citizenship. It is a collaborative effort by foundations, non-profit organizations, business leaders and government agencies supporting children’s school readiness, summer learning and regular school attendance.
North Carolina’s Campaign for Grade-Level Reading has a vision where diverse and inclusive communities grow thriving readers, beginning at birth and continuing through third grade, so each child is prepared for success. Thirteen community collaboratives, including Wake Up and Read, currently participate in the NC Campaign.
NCECF Collecting Books for Local Readers
In an effort to support the community closest to most of us, we are collecting books for babies, toddlers, and elementary school children up to 12 years old that children and families are excited to read and proud to own!
Your support will help ensure that ALL children have access to the books necessary to foster a love for reading and the literacy skills to thrive.
Here’s more information on this year’s Book Drive:
Four Ways to Support the Book Drive
- Drop off your great donation books in
- The bin on the front stoop of 5433 Pine Top Circle. It’s a tan end unit townhouse, in between Crabtree Mall and North Hills, with the American and Zambian flags. OR
- At the Wake Up and Read location at 1820 Capital Boulevard. Please note the book box against the right side of the building.
- Purchase books from the WAKE Up and Read Wish Lists or at local bookstores.
- Make a financial donation towards new book purchases.
- Sign up to Host Your Own Book Drive. Last year, one of our staff collected 200 books leading our own efforts.
Great Book Donations
- new or gently-read books for babies & children
- recently-published books that children are excited to read
- books that reflect the diversity of our community
- books that are visually appealing and high-interest
- books that children and families will be proud to own
WAKE Up and Read is a community coalition committed to ensuring each and every child – regardless of race, ethnicity, and socio-economic status – is reading on grade level by the end of 3rd grade.
As the state’s only organization focused exclusively on children from birth through age eight, the North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation works to promote understanding, spearhead collaboration and advance policies to ensure each North Carolina child is on track for lifelong success by the end of third grade. Learn more online at buildthefoundation.org/.