Children’s Book Drive

The Children’s Book Project was founded to help build literacy by providing new and gently used books free to children who need them. Since 1992, this group has given away over 2.7 million books for children in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. Evidence shows that reading aloud to children helps their brain development and helps them learn to read. However, many children in the Bay Area live in homes without books and attend schools or other programs where books are in short supply. Encouraging reading is not enough when families do not have books. 

You can help! All Cole Hardware locations will be accepting new and gently used books during the month of July for this wonderful organization. In addition, you can also donate throughout July at checkout when paying for your purchase.

There is a high demand for:

• Board books
• Early readers
• Graphic novels
• Books in Spanish or Chinese (all ages)
• Books featuring diverse characters (all ages)
• Elementary chapter books
• Popular series for 8- to 12-year-olds

Due to limited demand and storage space, the following books are not accepted:

• Textbooks and curriculum materials
• Encyclopedias
• Audio cassettes and VHS tapes
• Library discards
• Religious books
• Obsolete books
• Dirty, dusty, wet, or mildewed books
• Nonfiction books more than 10 years old