5 Charities That Promote Literacy

By Dianna Dilworth 

First BookAside from buying books for holiday gifts, now is a great time of year to contribute to charity.  To help encourage giving to causes that promote literacy, we have put together a list of 5 charities that help encourage reading among people who are least likely to have access to books. For your exploration below, we’ve listed the name of the charity, their mission statement and linked to their site.

These are just a sample of charities worth considering. Many other great organizations help teach people to read, so feel free to help us grow this list by leaving your favorite charities that promote literacy in the comments section. Also check out our list from last year and from 2011.

5 Charities That Promote Literacy 

1. First Book: “At First Book, our innovative approaches tackle the single biggest barrier to the development of literacy – access to books. To date, First Book has provided more than 120 million books to children in need, increasing access to needed materials for educators and administrators, and helping to elevate educational opportunities for our nation’s most disadvantaged youth.”

2. Donors Choose.org: “DonorsChoose.org is an online charity that makes it easy for anyone to help students in need. Public school teachers from every corner of America post classroom project requests on our site, and you can give any amount to the project that most inspires you.”

3. We Give Books: “We Give Books distributes books to children in need across 5 continents through our Charity Partners. Featured Charity Partners receive book donations from We Give Books on an ongoing basis.”

4. Better World Books: “Better World Books uses the power of business to change the world. We collect and sell books online to donate books and fund literacy initiatives worldwide. With more than 8 million new and used titles in stock, we’re a self-sustaining, triple-bottom-line company that creates social, economic and environmental value for all our stakeholders.”

5. Girls Write Now: “Founded in 1998, Girls Write Now is the first organization in the country with a writing and mentoring model exclusively for girls. Girls Write Now provides guidance, support, and opportunities for at-risk and underserved girls from New York City’s public high schools to develop their creative, independent voices, explore careers in professional writing, and learn how to make healthy school, career and life choices.”