2020 MLK Day & Blake Mini Library

Today, January 20, 2020, marks the 25th anniversary of the MLK Day of Service. Observed each year on the third Monday in January as “a day on, not a day off,” MLK Day is the only federal holiday designated as a national day of service to encourage all Americans to volunteer to improve their communities.

Each year, the Blake Mini Library book drive kicks off on the MLK Day of Service, collecting through Valentine’s Day. The project encourages and supports the caring acts of children who work with their communities to collect books for the Hamilton Families shelter program here in San Francisco. This youth philanthropy effort supports the reading, writing and science literacy of children ages birth to 21 living in homes for runaways, homeless shelters and foster care. The project began in 2013, when a 6-year old boy named Blake Ansari began a book drive in New York City with the support of his family and friends.

In 2020, we invite friends and families to share acts of compassion and creativity, in celebration of the 5th annual Blake Mini Library Book Drive in San Francisco.

Students can participate by:

• Donating or collecting books.
• Help to spread the news about the 2020 Blake Mini Library Book Drive by using your creativity to make posters, or public service announcements.
• Recommend book titles that other children would enjoy reading
• Write a book review about a book that you would like to recommended for donation.
• Make a Valentine or write a Note of Encouragement to hide inside a book.
• Support the processing of books in advance of the delivery to the Hamilton Families shelter on Read Across America Day (3/2/2020).

Adults can support students by:

• Donating your new and recently new books (no cloth books please) to children from birth to age 21.
• Sponsor a book title inspired by our 2020 theme: “Breaking Barriers”
• When donating a book, write a Note of Encouragement, a special surprise message that is hidden inside the book to be discovered by a future reader.
• Record an audio read-aloud version of a book that can be enjoyed by beginning readers.
• Learn more about the issue of homelessness and the impacts on children and finding ways to help. Baharav, H., Leos-Urbel, J., Obradovic, J., & Bardack, S. (2017). The Educational Success of Homeless and Highly Mobile Students in San Francisco Unified School District. Stanford, CA. John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities, Stanford Graduate School of Education.
• Inspire children by showing that you support their efforts.

“When you listen to the community, learn from the community, and help the community, you connect to your best self”

– Blake Ansari, founder of Blake Mini Library

#blakeminilibrary #‎youthphilanthropy #‎literacy #nomorehomelesschildren