MLK Service Day Diversity Book Drive
MLK Service Day Diversity Book Drive
Welcome to the Blank Rome MLK Service Day Diversity Book Drive!
In a special collaboration with Lee & Low Books, we have curated a special list of diverse books for grades K through 5, focusing on race, religion, culture, gender, and many additional areas that make our country – and our firm – beautifully diverse. We hope to donate at least one complete set of our Blank Rome Diversity Book Collection to needy schools and nonprofits in each of our 13 U.S. cities as reflected below.
If you wish to contribute to this book drive, please follow the payment links below and contribute the amount you wish to the book drive – and you can also make a note if any particular books you wish to have earmarked as part of your contribution and the office you’d like to designate for your contribution. At the conclusion of the drive, we hope to have enough funds to purchase at least one full curated book set per each Blank Rome office, for nonprofits located in each of our wonderful home cities.
This book drive will continue until Wednesday, February 3rd.
Thank you for your generosity!
Please note that contributions are not tax-deductible. In addition, you do not need a PayPal account to contribute; you can simply enter your credit card information into the secured portal.
The total cost of each curated set (1 of each title) is $900 (including shipping). If you wish to purchase a full set of this Blank Rome Diversity Collection, we will be happy to arrange delivery of this collection in your name to a nonprofit of your choice.
At this juncture, we have numerous nonprofits and schools who will be recipients of our book collections, including:
Cincinnati: Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical CenterChicago: The Northwestern Settlement and its charter elementary school, Rowe Elementary
Houston: Spring Branch Family Development Center
Los Angeles: Department of Public Social Services (DPSS), Adopt-A-Family Lending Library
New York: PS 446, the Riverdale Avenue Community School in Brownsville, Brooklyn
Philadelphia: Philadelphia FIGHT Pediatrics
Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital
Princeton: The Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice
San Francisco/Shanghai: Chinatown Service Center in Los Angeles
Tampa: Friends of the Library of Tampa-Hillsborough County
Washington, D.C.: Patterson Elementary School in Ward 8
Wilmington: Mary Mother of Hope House 1 Emergency Shelter for Women
Given the challenges of the pandemic, a book drive is both safe and impactful. Thank you for contributing to this special project.
If you have any questions about this Diversity Book Drive, or wish to make arrangements for the purchase and donation of a full set of this curated collection to an additional nonprofit of your choice, please contact Marianne Talbot at mtalbot@blankrome.com
She Was the First!
The Trailblazing Life of Shirley Chisholm
By Katheryn Russell-Brown
Illustrated by Eric Velasquez
A timely, inspiring picture book biography of the dynamic twentieth-century educator, activist, and politician Shirley Chisholm.
John Lewis in the Lead:
A Story of the Civil Rights Movement
By Jim Haskins, Kathleen Benson
Illustrated by Benny Andrews
A biography of John Lewis, one of the “Big Six” civil rights leaders of the 1960s, focusing on his involvement in Freedom Rides, the March on Washington, and the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.
Under My Hijab
By Hena Khan
Illustrated by Aaliya Jaleel
A young girl celebrates the many women in her life who choose to wear the hijab in this lovely book from the author of Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns.
When Aidan Became a Brother
By Kyle Lukoff
Illustrated by Kaylani Juanita
This sweet #ownvoices picture book celebrates the changes in a transgender boy's life, from his initial coming-out to becoming a big brother.
Amazing Faces
By Lee Bennett Hopkins
Illustrated by Chris Soentpiet
Whatever we feel—whether happy or sad, excited or wishful, proud or lonely—our faces mirror our emotions. In this contemporary yet timeless collection, sixteen evocative poems are brought to life in diverse and detailed faces that reveal the universal feelings we all share. Girls and boys, women and men invite us to experience their world, understand their lives, and find the connections that bring us together.
Block Party
By Gwendolyn Hudson Hooks
Illustrated by Shirley Ng-Benitez
The neighborhood is having a block party where everyone is responsible for bringing a food dish. Padma is excited about the party until she learns that her mother is planning to bring lentil soup. Padma thinks soup is so boring! Everyone else will bring fun things like pizza or hot dogs. Plus Padma worries that her friends won’t like the soup—but to her delight, she discovers that they not only like the soup, they want to learn how to make it.
Dream Builder
By Kelly Starling Lyons
Illustrated by Laura Freeman
Dream Builder: The Story of Architect Philip Freelon celebrates a contemporary black STEAM role model, a man whose quiet work enabled the creation of an iconic building reflecting America's past and future.
Blank Rome
Book Collection
Hand selected titles featured for the 2021 Blank Rome Diversity Book Drive.
Blank Rome Diversity Book Drive
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