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Author: Lisa Ceniceros

Karol Swenson

Posted on by Lisa Ceniceros

Page Ahead is pleased to present the 2023 Sarajane Beal Award for Volunteer Excellence to Karol Swenson.

Lisa Ceniceros, volunteer of the year Karol Swenson, and Stacey Lane

Karol began volunteering for Page Ahead in January of 2016. In that time, Karol has:

  • Served on our Program Committee for several years (helping to create reading guides for teachers and families)
  • She has been a Story Time volunteer reader to several classrooms
  • Karol has also volunteered at our annual benefit luncheon several times and has helped us back at the office afterwards as well

Last September, Karol helped train our 20 new Story Time volunteers at a special Saturday training session. She has also done this several times over the years. The new volunteers benefited from Karol’s experience to learn how to deliver fun and engaging Story Times to their classes. In January, Karol rejoined the Program Committee and immediately jumped in to support the many site visits at our Story Leaders schools. She visited 11 different classrooms in all, traveling as far north as Everson and as far south as Winlock. These site visits help provide important feedback to help us better support the teachers and students participating in the Story Leaders program.

Karol’s biggest volunteer effort this year, came in supporting Page Ahead’s spring book fairs for Book Up Summer. She helped with book fair set-ups, as a book fair helper, and most importantly as a Book Fair Expert at our Seattle schools. As a Book Fair Expert, Karol was responsible for managing the many Amazon volunteers who helped as personal shoppers at each school location. Karol was the Page Ahead representative who helped work with our school coordinators during their book fairs, to make sure that it was a fun and successful event for students and volunteers. In all, Karol went to 8 different schools, for 19 different shifts, and volunteering over 54 hours for Book Up Summer. Her support of Book Up Summer helped over 1,600 students with selecting their 12 new books for summer reading. That’s a HUGE impact!

Karols’s passion for Page Ahead and her many hours of service to all of our programs, helps us to support so many schools and children with books and the joy of reading.

Thank you, Karol! You truly make a difference at Page Ahead!

See previous winners of this award here.

July 2023 newsletter

Posted on by Lisa Ceniceros

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Bryant Elementary donates more than 700 books!

Page Ahead is grateful to the fifth graders at Bryant Elementary in northeast Seattle for their hard work in managing a successful book drive benefiting Page Ahead!

They collected 727 books and $360 to help build home libraries for other students who really need them. Read more about how fifth grade teacher Steve Garlid and his students made reading magic happen on our blog.

Thank you, Bryant Hawks!

A Bryant student holds the first book donated in their book drive

Your monthly give will be DOUBLED!

Our friends at First Tech Federal Credit Union have an amazing gift for Page Ahead’s 33rd birthday! They’re matching ALL new monthly gift commitments—so when you make a monthly commitment to supporting literacy today, your generosity will go twice as far.

Make a monthly gift now

Boeing’s annual book drive lifts off!

The Liftoff for Learning drive at Boeing, a way for all Boeing employees to support the
students Page Ahead serves, runs July 17 to August 11. Funds raised for Page Ahead will be used to give new books to kids in need. Thanks to Boeing employees and Liftoff for Learning, those kids won’t be left behind. Instead, they’ll get to choose and enjoy great new books—and develop their reading superpowers! 

Summer Story Times at the Ballard Locks

Are you raising a reader? Then we hope you will join Page Ahead at the Carl S. English Jr. Botanical Garden for summer story times!

Thursdays, 11 am to noon through August 31.


Story times are free and open to all! Our wonderful Story Time volunteers bring fun stories to life and have craft packets to accompany each story them (and keep little hands busy). Find more details on the Page Ahead blog.

RBIs for Literacy

PACCAR is widely known for their trucks—but did you know their passion for education is as big as their big wheelers?

Over the past 17 years, PACCAR has partnered with the Seattle Mariners through the RBIs for Literacy program—putting books in the hands of kids who need them most. The innovative partnership has raised enough to purchase hundreds of thousands of new books for kids who really need them! And PACCAR employees have collected an additional 40,000 new books through workplace book drives—which are starting up again soon. Thank you, PACCAR, for supporting kids and reading!

Community book drive at the Mariners

Mariners Care and PACCAR are hosting a book drive at T-Mobile Park on Tuesday, August 29 to benefit Page Ahead. Heading to the game? Stop by to see us and make a donation at the following locations:

Home Plate and Left Field gates

Terrace Club entrance

Parking Plaza

Above the ‘Pen

Or you can text BOOKS to 707070

All donations will benefit Page Ahead and give kids in need the chance to read.

Go Mariners! 

Join Page Ahead at the Ballard Locks for summer story times!

Posted on by Lisa Ceniceros

Every Thursday until 8/31, from 11 am–noon, join Page Ahead for an outdoor story time at the Carl S. English Jr. Botanical Gardens at the Ballard Locks (3015 NW 54th St, Seattle, 98107).

The readings take place under a tree, across from the visitors’ center. Signs will be posted with more information.

Each week will feature a different theme, new reader, and different take-home crafts for the first 24 kids at the reading; all children are also welcome to take home a fun coloring sheet provided by the Botanical Gardens staff.

Schools helping schools: the Bryant Elementary book drive

Posted on by Lisa Ceniceros

Steve Garlid is a fifth grade teacher at Bryant Elementary in northeast Seattle, and he has helped to host many successful book drives with his students benefiting Page Ahead over the years. This year, the fantastic Bryant community collected 727 books and raised more than $360 through a fundraising event at Third Place Books! He graciously agreed to answer our questions about how the Bryant Hawks always manage to knock it out of the park.

Page Ahead: How does doing a book drive for Page Ahead fit into the community building that you and your fellow educators do at your school?

Steve Garlid: This year we engaged in service projects related to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Our theme this year, “Think Globally, Act Locally,” led us to choose local organizations like Page Ahead to support. Fifth graders could get behind organizing a book drive since books are a huge part of their lives.

PA: As a teacher, how do you share responsibility for the book drive’s success with your students? Are they able to take leadership roles?

SG: The first step is to discuss what books mean to kids, and to think about the difference books can make. It’s important to let the class decide whether to do the drive or not.  If a class reaches consensus, the drive goes much better.

Once we decide to do a drive, we think of all the ways we can promote it (posters, fliers, book marks, sandwich boards, announcements, short videos, etc.) and divide these tasks among students. Letting them name the drive (this year we named it “Hawks Have Hearts”) gives them an additional sense of ownership.

PA: Does doing a book drive engage your students differently from doing, say, a food drive or a warm coat drive? If so, how?

SG: We had a really successful food drive this year too. And yes, books have a special place in kids’ hearts.  Working with our local bookstore [to hold a benefit sale event], Ravenna Third Place Books, allowed kids and their families to have an outing that was fun and supportive of a good cause.

PA: How do you set your book drives up for success? What’s your secret for collecting so many books?

SG: There’s no secret.  We just do a lot of promoting, and make sure every student and parent in the school knows about it. Plus, we let the students do as much of the work as possible. This means collecting books, making posters, counting, boxing, and promoting the drive as much as possible. This year, we coordinated our drive with the school book fair organized by our librarian. That was a nice tie-in.

PA: What advice would you give to another school or community group who is considering doing a book drive for Page Ahead?

SG: Go for it! Every book helps. [Page Ahead note—this is so true!] Plan ahead, and promote the heck out of it. Make sure the parents all know about it in advance. Let the kids name it and think of ways to promote it. Work with a local bookstore to arrange a “give back” night. Two weeks for a book drive felt about right. Have fun with it!

Thank you, Mr. Garlid and the Bryant Elementary community!

June 2023 newsletter

Posted on by Lisa Ceniceros

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Nearly 22,000 kids are ready for summer reading with Page Ahead books

We are finishing up our Book Up Summer book fairs with 122 elementary school partners across Washington state. This year we added 16 new schools in the Franklin Pierce, Renton, Columbia (Stevens County), and Mary Walker school districts to the program.

21,594 students self-selected 12 new books to keep and read this summer and beyond, at no cost to them or their families. That means 273,947 new books are on their way into homes of students that need them the most.

Thank you to our donors, our dedicated school partners, and our volunteers, for working together to give students the  tools they need to become strong readers.

I was so impressed by the books that came home. My child said she chose them and she was quite proud of her selections. The quality of these books is quite high—great content, beautiful art, and relevant storytelling. I couldn’t be happier.

— parent of a first grader, Madrona Elementary, Highline

Thank you, Page Ahead volunteers!

It takes many hands to bring over 200,000+ books to students across the state during our Book Up Summer book fairs. This year we were very fortunate to have more than 100 dedicated Page Ahead book fair helpers volunteer in Mount Vernon, Marysville, Edmonds, Seattle, Renton, and Spokane schools.

These generous volunteers donated more than 500 hours to help students choose, count, and label their new books with to take home. We are all very grateful for their time, efforts, and dedication to children’s literacy.

Amazon Book Buddies

This spring, as part of their Kickoff to Summer Reading volunteer campaign, Amazon.com joined forces with Page Ahead to bring the powerful experience of building a home library to thousands of young Seattle Public Schools students.

In May and June, Amazon employees volunteered as Amazon Book Buddies to help Seattle students select 12 books to take home for summer reading and beyond. During that time, 233 Amazon employees volunteered 531 hours at 20 Seattle schools! Page Ahead and our partners in the Seattle schools are so appreciative of this incredible investment in our students’ future success!

Thanks, Amazon!

Federal Way students receive a special gift from First Tech!

Read all about it: Page Ahead’s annual impact report for the 2021–22 school year is now available!

Find out about how the home libraries Page Ahead built for kids made a difference last year by visiting bit.ly/PA22report.

New episode of American Dream spotlights Page Ahead

Thanks to our friends at the TRI STAR Team for visiting Page Ahead and highlighting our work on the show American Dream. They’re also helping us stock all the bookshelves you see in this video so we can distribute books to the kids we serve! If you’d like to participate in their online book drive, visit here to support their efforts to fill our shelves.

Have a WONDERFUL summer!

2021–22 annual impact report

Posted on by Lisa Ceniceros

In the 2021–22 school year, the Page Ahead community reached farther than we ever have before to give kids the chance to read:

264,819 books

22,208 kids

156 schools

Page Ahead's annual impact report is now available.

Find out how the home libraries YOU built for kids last year made a difference!

Visit bit.ly/PA22report now to learn more.

May 2023 newsletter

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It’s time for Book Up Summer!

The Page Ahead book fairs have begun! Through the end of June, more than 20,000 children will select their twelve brand-new books to keep and read over the summer. The Book Up Summer program gives these young students the tools and incentive they need to read during summer vacation.

Grounded in current literacy research and made possible by donors like you, this evidence-based reading program is offered to elementary schools in communities of concentrated low income through Page Ahead’s partnerships with school districts across Washington state.

This year, new schools in the Franklin Pierce (Pierce County), Renton (King County), Sunnyside (Yakima County), and Columbia and Mary Walker (both Stevens County) school districts are joining Book Up Summer. Thank you to our amazing community for providing the support we need to expand this important program and provide home libraries for even more young readers!

Teachers love Book Up Summer, too!

You gave BIG!

We’d like to thank all of the donors who gave to Page Ahead for GiveBIG 2023! Thank you for making sure kids in need get a great start with reading. You helped raise more than $9,600—enough to give more than 190 children a home library for their own this summer! And you maxed out our $3,000 match challenge from generous Page Ahead supporters—THANK YOU!  

Dear donor, you have all the books i love! I can’t wait to read outside on my swing. i can’t wait to learn obout all the animals! i’ll learn lots of things! the books aer Awesome!

—Wren

22,208 students had books last year thanks to the Page Ahead community

Read all about it: Page Ahead’s annual impact report for the 2021–22 school year is now available!

Find out about how the home libraries Page Ahead built for kids made a difference last year by visiting bit.ly/PA22report.

Community partners

We would like to thank First Tech Federal Credit Union, the Adobe Foundation, and Coaching for Literacy for their recent generous grants. Between them all, they’ve built home libraries for 850 kids—that’s the equivalent of all the second graders we serve in the Highline school district. Thank you for your continued support to help students learn and grow!

A Taste for Reading 2023

Posted on by Lisa Ceniceros

Thank you so much for everyone who attended or watched the 20th annual A Taste for Reading!

Check out the event video below if you missed it (or you want to revisit that wonderful Readers’ Theater performance of The Storybook Knight by the great Broadview-Thomson Players). And you can still donate to support our important work here.

Thank you to our corporate sponsors and partners, including Boeing and EY, as well as all our attendees, donors, volunteers, and speakers!

April 2023 newsletter

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A Taste for Reading was a success!

We are thrilled so many people were able to gather with us on Tuesday to celebrate the power of books at the twentieth annual A Taste for Reading luncheon! Gene’s surprise presentation for Susan started the joyful program off so well, and it was wonderful to welcome Enrique Cerna back as our master of ceremonies (some of you may remember him as a past MC of several years, most recently in 2013—the 10th annual luncheon!). Cathy provided such a warm welcome, and Megan’s story and pitch for support was a powerful illustration of the difference we can ALL make in kids’ lives.

The kids from Broadview-Thomson in north Seattle did such a great job with their performance of The Storybook Knight by Helen Docherty, and we were honored to have both Kaye Marshall and Brenda Daniels share their educator experiences.

Thank you to all you gave to support home libraries for students across Washington State.

Weren’t able to attend? You can watch the program here and give a child a home library of 12 new books right here!

Story Leaders update

The third and final round (for this school year) of Story Leaders books were shipped out earlier this month to our preschool partner sites. This spring, students will be reading Lola Plants a Garden and The Greatest Adventure.

Teachers read copies of the book to the students several times during classroom reading sessions in small groups. Then, the students each receive a brand-new copy of the book to keep and read at home. The goal: for students to engage with print in various ways using shared reading activities both at school and at home, turning the students themselves into the Story Leaders!

Nominate Page Ahead for a BECU People Helping People grant

If you’re a BECU member, you can nominate Page Ahead for a People Helping People grant! The deadline for nominations is June 30.

Information you’ll need:

EIN: 91-1600084
Contact: info@pageahead.org
Inclusion: Yes
Area: WA
Category: Education

GiveBIG 2023: May 2 and 3

It’s Washington’s biggest community giving opportunity—GiveBIG is back! Learn more about how your gift will help local kids in need get the chance to read and succeed!

Did you know? You can even preschedule your gifts for GiveBIG.

We love our volunteers!

April is National Volunteer Month, and we’d like to send a HUGE THANK YOU to all Page Ahead volunteers! The only way our staff of four can serve 20,000+ kids across the state is with the dedication and support we receive every week from our volunteers.

Page Ahead programs would not happen without your help, volunteers, so thank you for helping us close the literacy opportunity gap and give EVERY kid the chance to read!

March 2023 newsletter

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Annual benefit for children’s literacy

A Taste for Reading pairs a delicious lunch with an inspiring program demonstrating the incredible difference that Page Ahead supporters like YOU make in kids’ lives.

RSVP here (in person OR online attendance)

I would like to help fundraise for this event

I cannot attend but would like to make a gift!

Reflecting on two years of Book Oasis

When the pandemic hit in spring 2020 and everything shut down, kids were suddenly cut off from books. Public libraries were shuttered, school and classroom libraries were totally unavailable; even bookstores and warehouses were closed. And families in communities of concentrated low income were at a particular disadvantage because they were less likely to have books at home already.

As the months went on and it became clear that this would be a long-term disruption, Page Ahead wanted to find a way to create a pipeline of new kids’ books into communities we already serve where we knew families would benefit from more reading material. The Book Oasis project was born!

Read more about two years with Book Oasis in this blog post.

March is National Reading Month

Celebrating Read Across America in the first week of March, Page Ahead volunteers visited three local elementary schools to read with kindergarten and first graders.

Each child was able to select a brand-new book from an array of choices to keep, along with a decorated bookmark (carefully created by dedicated volunteers from around the world!). Once the students had their new book and bookmark, an adult volunteer reader sat with small groups of students to read their new books to them.

We are so thankful for the 39 wonderful volunteers who took time out of their day to go and read to these young students. It brightened their day and surely will leave an impact on their young lives. THANK YOU: Costco, Adobe, Trilogy for Kids and our very own Page Ahead VOLUNTEERS!

Community spotlight: Bamford Foundation

We are delighted to announce that we have been selected to receive a generous grant from the Bamford Foundation to help fill the home libraries of 300 students in the Tacoma school district. We’re grateful for the continued partnership of the Bamford Foundation as we grow Book Up Summer in Tacoma!

Tacoma Book Up Summer students at Mary Lyon Elementary

Book drives around the Sound

We would also like to acknowledge Seattle Alumnae Club of Pi Beta Phi for their very large donation of new books to Page Ahead. The final count is 5,355 beautiful new books!!! These brand-new books have already started going out to our school partners across the greater Puget Sound to put in the hands of their students. Thank you so much, Pi Beta Phis, for your incredible gift of reading to local children. We are so grateful for your support!

Some of the MANY books donated by the Pi Phis!

We would like to give a very special thanks to the Mercer Girls chapter of the NSDAR group for hosting a book drive for Page Ahead! Their members purchased books from our curated book wish list, and we are delighted to report they generously gave 200 new children’s books (and counting)! Thank you, Mercer Girls!

If you are interested in hosting a book drive for Page Ahead, we have a new online form that helps us provide you and/or your group with everything you could possibly need to aid your efforts. Check it out here!

Celebrating Women’s History Month

Celebrate stories of courage, perseverance, and audacity in honor of Women’s History Month with children’s book selections you can read with your child this month and beyond. View our full list here!