PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — In January, Goodwill’s BookWorks program will celebrate 25 years of helping to build personal libraries for children who may not have had the opportunity to have them.

What You Need To Know

  • Goodwill's BookWorks prgram launched in 1999 with the goal to get books into the hands and homes of children

  • The program serves more than 40,000 children and it’s available in eight different counties

  • BookWorks is designed to instill a love of books and encourage self-sufficiency

  • BookWorks also helps get books to elementary-aged students at schools in need, operating from Book Rooms in Clearwater, Wildwood and Sebring

Leaders of the program said their effort to get books into the hands of children is more important now than ever before because of the post COVID literacy rates. In addition to giving out the donated books to kids, the BookWorks volunteers also read to children at Head Start centers and other locations.

Larry Hartman is one of those volunteers who knows the value of a good book in the hands of a child.

“I know how important it is to get them early, get them excited, get them interested in building their vocabulary, their acumen,” he said.

The grandfather of six has already had some practice reading to kids. So it was a no-brainer for him to sign up as a volunteer with Goodwill’s BookWorks program

“I think I have more fun with it than the kids sometimes,” Hartman said.

Haydee Castro, the Goodwill Suncoast Youth Development Programs manager, runs the book depot in Clearwater with help from community volunteers.

“We clean them, make sure there’s no little love notes or little peanut butter and jelly smudges on the books anymore,” Castro said.

The room is filled with a lot of books, so that means a lot of cleaning.

“I know it seems like a lot," she said. "This is because we’re stocking up for January to get books out into the community."

Despite the stacks of books already collected, Castro said they need more book donations.

“I started back in 2011, I believe — we were only giving out about 5,000 books in the community. And last year alone, we gave out over 52,000 books. But prior to COVID we had given out over 100,000 books, so we’re trying to get to back to that,” she said. “We see that literacy rates — literacy rates continue to drop and this is our effort to help kids learn how to read and continue that love of reading. “

Goodwill’s BookWorks program serves more than 40,000 children and it’s available in eight different counties and they’re always looking for volunteers and donations. In addition to donating books, financial donations are also accepted to purchase books for kids they service.

For more information about volunteering, call 727-523-1512 and ask for BookWorks, or email bookworks@goodwill-suncoast.com.