This afternoon, ECBC received a tremendous donation of books from Milk & Bookies, an LA-based organization whose mission is to spread the love of reading to those who can’t afford books of their own. We haven’t yet unpacked the more than 30 boxes and 2000+ new books, but we’re so excited about our partnership with Milk & Bookies and for this significant donation!

For those who are not aware of the dual libraries that ECBC is aiming to build, ECBC is working hard to create both a Lending Library and a Gifting Library. The goal of the Lending Library is to create a comprehensive library collection for kids of all ages and interests, which includes high-quality literature, award winners, and a range of book types and topics so that patients of all ages, reading abilities, and interests can find books that are a good fit for them. We are working hard to obtain the titles that Ethan is featuring in his Book Looks as well as the rest on our Amazon Wish List so that we can have a collection of books that meets everyone’s needs.

That being said, there are always a good number of patients at the hospital who are “in isolation”, meaning they will not be able to visit the Lending Library or check out books from the lending library to their rooms. For these kids, we are building a Gifting Library that contains books to give away so that they also can have books in their daily lives at CHOC. While we can only have new hardcover books in the Lending Library, as well as a maximum of five copies per title, we have fewer restrictions for the Gifting Library (i.e., they can be paperback, we can have many, many copies of a given title). While we still need (and always will need) many many more books for both the Lending and GIfting libraries, these books are such a great start — and they mean that we now officially have a real “Gifting Library”!!

Thank you so much, Milk & Bookies!!  

Please check out the Milk & Bookies Facebook page by clicking here!