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November 2025 newsletter

Posted on by Laura Le

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Mark your calendars for Giving Tuesday!

Mark your calendars for December 2—it’s GivingTuesday!

This year a generous supporter, The Schreiber Family Foundation, has pledged to match all GivingTuesday donations, up to $10,000. That means every dollar you give will be doubled to help us bring Book Up Summer to two schools that might not otherwise be able to participate.

Together, we can give hundreds of kids the power of books and the confidence that comes with being a strong reader.

Phinney Holiday Bookfest

The Phinney Holiday Bookfest will take place on Saturday 11/22 at the Phinney Center from 2pm – 4pm. 

Holiday Bookfest is an annual Seattle tradition on Phinney Ridge each November for book gift shopping, meeting and mingling with local authors who will sign your books, and donating to local literacy causes. 

Donations to Page Ahead will be collected at the event! Come join us for us a fun afternoon in Phinney where you can meet local authors and get some new books for yourself and for kids in Washington.

Holiday Book Shopping

During this giving season, we are so grateful to partner with our friends at Barnes & Noble again this year for their holiday book drives. They have made it extra easy for you to buy books for everyone on your list AND for the kids Page Ahead serves. 

From now – December 15, shop at these Barnes and Noble locations for an easy way to support Page Ahead:

Calling all Future Engineers!

Encourage any high school seniors in your life to apply to the Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship program. The Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship provides high school seniors with up to $40,000 for college plus internship opportunities at Amazon.

Selected students will study computer science while gaining real-world tech experience. Beyond financial support, scholars join a community that provides ongoing mentorship, networking opportunities, and career guidance throughout their academic journey.

Key info at-a-glance:

  • Applications are open now! Deadline to apply is January 15, 2026
  • Up to $40,000 in scholarship funds
  • Summer internship opportunity at Amazon

Eligible students must plan to:

Know a student who might be interested? Share this opportunity with them and their families!

Celebrate different heritages through reading

As Hispanic Heritage Month comes to an end and Native American Heritage Month begins, we encourage you to celebrate different cultures through reading! 

You can find books on our Bookshop.org page that highlight Hispanic and Indigenous authors, stories, and their cultures.

Reading Events

What a fun start to the school year it’s been! We’ve had such a wonderful time with our volunteers and students at reading events.

Volunteers from the Page Ahead community, EY, and First Tech spent 62 hours reading to 184 first graders at 3 different elementary schools.

We are incredibly thankful to our volunteers for inspiring a love of reading in the children in our community.

Ballard GivesBack

This Black Friday weekend, Nov 28th – 30th, shop at Secret Garden Books in Ballard and get great deals on books and gifts for all ages.

Each year, businesses in the Ballard Business Alliance select a charity to support as part of Ballard Gives Back, and our partners at Secret Garden have chosen Page Ahead as their designated charity! A percentage of the proceeds will benefit Page Ahead and help give new books to kids who need them most this holiday season.

What we’re reading…

Sophia Padua has been volunteering with Page Ahead since 2023 as a special events volunteer. You can often find Sophia at tabling events in the community raising awareness and advocating for children’s literacy. Here’s what she has to say about Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain.

“I just finished reading Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain. His shows “No Reservations” and “Parts Unknown” were huge staples growing up in my family’s household. I always thought he was a wonderful storyteller, piecing together his adventures for people to experience from their own homes. Reading Kitchen Confidential was an opportunity to start from the beginning of his career. His voice comes through on every page, and if you were a fan of his, I can’t recommend it enough!”

September 2025 newsletter

Posted on by Laura Le

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We love our volunteers!

Page Ahead volunteers are vital to our ability to reach over 30,000 young readers all across the state. We are so grateful for their help in putting brand new books in the hands of kids who need them most. Volunteers make our programs possible in countless ways: sorting, shelving, and stickering books; maintaining and restocking our Book Oasis libraries; reading with children during Story Time; serving on our committees and Board of Directors; helping kids choose books at Book Up Summer book fairs—and so much more! 

This year, over 500 volunteers gave more than 3,565 hours to ensure EVERY child has the chance to read. We are profoundly thankful to each and every one of them. Thank you, volunteers—you make the magic happen!

And,  an extra-special thank you to the winners of the 2025 Sarajane Beal Award for Volunteer Excellence, Nance Daiker and Linda Hintz!

Nance and Linda began volunteering for Page Ahead in July of 2021 as weekly office volunteers in the Story Time craft center. In preparation for the return of in-person Story Times for the 2021 school year, Nance and Linda quickly began creating new craft kits. They reorganized all the resources for Story Time crafts and over the last 4 years have transformed the craft replenishment process to be much more streamlined and efficient.

This past year has been extra special: Nance and Linda have put in a combined total of over 375 volunteer hours! This is especially impressive considering that Linda was out for a few months recovering from surgery. But, that never slowed them down from replenishing over 440 Story Time craft kits and assembling over 500 craft kits for summer story times at Ballard and High Point. These craft kit totals translate into support for over 1,400 students in our Story Time program. Nance and Linda also delivered over 700 books to their 2 Book Oases this past year, keeping the neighborhoods near Olympic Hills Elementary School and ReWA in Lake City supplied with high-quality children’s books. These two are an amazing team!

Linda and Nance’s passion for Page Ahead, and their many hours of service to all of our programs, help us bring books and the joy of reading to countless schools and children.

Thank you, Nance and Linda! You truly make a difference at Page Ahead!

Community Book Drive at the Mariners

On Tuesday, August 26, while the Mariners played against the San Diego Padres, Mariners Care and PACCAR hosted a book drive to benefit Page Ahead at T-Mobile Park.

Thank you to our volunteers who helped us at the game! Their passion for literacy was the real MVP, helping us smash our Mariners Book Drive record. With their support, we will be able to give away over 1,100 new books to kids who need them most!

Page Ahead’s impact this year

During the 2024 – 25 program year, Page Ahead:

  • Provided 30,0005 kids with 325,141 new books
  • Partnered with 175 preschools, elementary schools, and other community organizations
  • and stocked 19 little free libraries with over 6,300 books!

We extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who was a part of this journey—it takes many people to make this work possible.

Join our new committee!

We are starting a new committee! Our Social Media/Marketing committee will focus on building strategy, generating content, and discussing metrics/impact. With an increasing need to grow our social media presence, we have decided that the most effective way to expand Page Ahead’s social media presence is to create a committee of dedicated volunteers to help us shine and beat the algorithm. 

Meetings will begin in the fall and will take place monthly from 6pm – 7pm. Meeting dates are still TBD and will be dependent on the interest and availability of interested community members. 

Roles available are:

  • Content Planner
  • Content Creator
  • Community Ambassador
  • Analyst
  • Content Librarian

Each role is anticipated to have about 2-4 hours of work outside of the monthly meetings!

If you’re interested in joining or learning more, please contact Laura.

What we’re reading…

Kim Ferse has been a Page Ahead volunteer since 2017. Her volunteer tenure has spanned many projects. She was an instrumental part of the Book Oasis project through her work with vendors, hosts, and community members. She also works as a summer story time reader and is working on a project to create labels for guiding questions for each of our Story Time books. In her free time, Kim is a playwright and an avid tennis player. 

Here’s what she has to say about the books she is reading: “My 2025 summer reading list is a story of apples and oranges! I am currently reading two books: First is Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe, which I picked up after hearing an NPR interview with the author. I didn’t know anything about the history of the IRA, and I love true stories that read like fiction! The other book I’m reading right now is The Losers Club by Andrew Clements. I am co-reading this middle-grade chapter book aloud over Zoom a half-hour at a time over the summer with Saryn, a 9-year-old girl from New Jersey, as part of a program called “ARK” (Actors Reading with Kids). We’re taking turns reading pages, and it’s silly fun!”

June 2025 newsletter

Posted on by Laura Le

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All Book Up for Summer (Reading)!

It was a record breaking year for Book Up Summer! Serving 23,638 students in 129 elementary schools here in Washington state, Book Up Summer distributed 299,032 books this year—the most ever since its inception in 2012. 

We could not have done this without the support from all of our volunteers: 207 volunteers gave 664 hours of their time to help ensure that every child has the chance to read this summer. Thank you, volunteers, for all that you do to champion literacy for EVERY child. 

Book Up Summer helps prevent the “summer slide.” Summer slide refers to the phenomenon where during their summer vacation, students lose some of the skills they learned and worked on throughout the school year. When students go home with 12 brand new books that they have self-selected, they are able to practice and work on reading in a way that is exciting and enjoyable to them. This ensures they start the next school year ready to learn and build on their current skills!

Summer Story Times

Happy summer vacation! This year we are once again serving young readers with outdoor story times in the Ballard and High Point neighborhoods. 

If you have a young reader in your life, we would love for you to join us at the Carl S. English Jr. Botanical Gardens at the Ballard Locks for a summer story time session!

This year, we’ve doubled the number of story time sessions. Page Ahead readers will be at the Ballard Locks every Tuesday and Thursday from 11am – 12pm until the end of August.

We hope to see you there!

Thank you NACUA!

The National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA) held its annual conference in Seattle this year and chose Page Ahead as one of the local charitable beneficiaries of the event. Conference attendees were invited to participate in a book drive by purchasing a book to donate at the Page Ahead pop-up shop or bringing one to the conference with them. The book drive was a resounding success, bringing in 411 books for students here in Washington!

Thank you so much to the NACUA attendees for championing literacy for all kids.

Volunteers from BYU and NACUA at the Page Ahead table

Local Business Partner: Old Stove Brewing Co.

On Tuesday, July 8th, please join us at Old Stove Gardens in Ballard as part of their Giving in the Gardens promotion! Page Ahead will have a table there and $1 from every pint sold will be donated to us. 

Bring a friend or a good book and join us on their outside patio for a fun evening. See you there!

Summer reading resources for you

Summer reading isn’t just fun for kids, it’s fun for the whole family. Here are some resources for all ages to get you started. Happy reading!

Summer Reading Challenges:

Adult Book Bingo (King County)

Teen Book Bingo & Kids Book Bingo (Seattle)

Summer Reading Program (Yakima Valley all ages)

Summer Reading Club (Spokane all ages)

Kids Summer Reading Challenge (Sno-Isle)

Summer of Stories (Pierce County all ages)

Seattle Seahawks 12 Pages 

Barnes and Noble Summer Reading Program

BookIt x Pizza Hut: Free Personal Pan Pizza

Real DAWGS Read

Half Price Books Summer Reading Camp

Literacy Events:

Seattle Arts and Lectures has author events year-round

University of Washington iSchool Read-Alongs (virtual)

Check out your local library branch for events

Check out your local independent bookstore to see if they have author events and/or story times scheduled for the summer

What we’re reading…

Annabel Wrightsman has been a volunteer with Page Ahead for the last 2 years. She helps with a variety of projects, from sending books to our school partners to supporting special events. A lover of children’s books, Annabel has worked on writing her own stories and will be starting at the University of Washington’s iSchool in the fall to pursue her MLIS. Here’s what she has to say about a book she’s recently finished:

“I recently read Kristiana Kahakauwila’s middle grade novel Clairboyance, which is a 2025 Asian Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA) Children’s Honor Book. 
It’s a beautiful story about a Hawaiian girl named Clara, who loves to draw, whittle, and help her grandmother tend to the taro patches of their home on Oahu’s North Shore. But Clara does not love how awkward 6th grade has become, which makes her want to move away to live with her dad in Arizona. 
When Clara accidentally gains an ancestral power that allows her to hear what boys are thinking, she thinks she can more quickly make her getaway dream a reality. But things get way more awkward, before, eventually, Clara learns to listen to her heart, make new friends, regain old ones, and deepen her knowledge of her heritage. 
Having grown up in Hawaii, I particularly appreciate Kahakauwila’s deft use of languages (including Hawaiian and the English-based creole language known as Hawaiian Pidgin), and her sensitive depiction of a child navigating long-distance relationships. And as someone who now lives in Seattle, I love that one of Clara’s new friends is from here.”

May 2025 newsletter

Posted on by Laura Le

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Book Up Summer

We are one month into Book Up Summer and what an incredible month it has been! But we’re not done yet—students all over Washington continue to select their 12 free books for summer reading—building their home libraries and sustaining the reading skills they’ve learned this school year. Because of Book Up Summer, students will be able to read to their heart’s content this summer, minimizing summer learning loss, and ensuring that when next school year starts, they’ll be able to hit the ground running. 

Thank you to everyone who has volunteered as a book fair helper already. It is because of each of you that we are able to provide home libraries to even more students this year.

It’s not too late to volunteer! You can sign up for shifts here (registration required if new user) or email Laura to sign your group or company up. See you at the book fair!

Partner Spotlight: Amazon

It’s a 3-peat! Amazon is graciously supporting several of our Seattle schools for the third year in a row. Their support has always gone beyond financial contributions—Amazon team members roll up their sleeves and dive into the joy of being Book Buddies at schools each year. But this year, Amazon volunteers have taken on an extra responsibility in setting up the book fairs, ensuring that every step of the process is smooth sailing for our school partners, and especially for our students.

To Amazon, we say a resounding THANK YOU for making a difference in our city, and shaping the future of our kids—one book at a time!

Getting ‘A Taste for Reading’

It was so exciting to have a completely full house at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel on Wednesday, April 30th for our 22nd annual benefit luncheon, A Taste for Reading. What a treat to spend the lunch hour with a room full of literacy champions! 

The program was full of amazing testimonials and success stories. We were honored to have Governor Ferguson kick us off, sharing his own reading memories and values and reminding us that we can all work together to build a better future for our kids. Keynote speaker, Kathy Emerick, Executive Director of School and Leadership Success for the Kent School District, shared her firsthand experience as an educator and as a mother about the impact that books and reading have on children. Finally, Story Time reader Linda Gainer spoke about how something as simple as reading with children can build strong readers and habits.

If you weren’t able to attend (or if you did attend but would like to relive the event!), you can watch the recorded event here:

Book Drive Highlight: Annie W.

Annie W (left) poses with her books and Page Ahead staff member, Laura Le

Annie W. is one of Page Ahead’s youngest and most active supporters. Each year Annie partners with Magnolia’s Bookstore in her neighborhood, and hosts a book drive for Page Ahead. This year, Annie collected over 40 brand new books worth over $500!

We are so excited to see young leadership helping support literacy for all. Thank you, Annie, for sharing your love of reading with other children in Washington!

You gaveBIG!

We’d like to thank all of the donors who gave to Page Ahead for GiveBIG 2025! Thank you for making sure all kids get a great start with reading. Your gifts helped give more than 75 children a home library of their own this summer.

Dear Donors, thank you SO much for paying for our books

and thank you for your act of kindness

and I can’t wait to read all my boooks.

Sincerely, Leila

Literacy Fair with TeamRead

On Sunday, June 15th, Team Read and the Seattle Public Library will be hosting a literacy fair at the Beacon Hill Branch Library. 

Page Ahead will have a table at this event to share information to families about our programs and our involvement in their children’s schools. Want to help? You can volunteer at this event as a set-up volunteer or as an information table volunteer. Please email Laura if you’re interested!

The literacy fair will have summer reading resources for families, sign up help for library cards, and entertainment for the kids with snacks and a magic show! We hope to see you there!  

Meet Sofia – Our Newest Team Member

Hi, I’m Sofia! I’m a rising junior at Loyola University Chicago studying Environmental Studies and Anthropology with a minor in Education Policy. I’m joining Page Ahead as a Programs Intern this summer to help our events run smoothly and start some planning for next year’s Story Leaders.

I grew up in Seattle and was an avid reader, often getting in trouble for staying up past my bedtime to finish a book. I was inspired to go into education by my mom, a former first-grade teacher, and my partner, a preschool teacher. I love being able to connect with kids and watch them grow their skills. I have a strong sense of justice and am passionate about equity in education. In my free time, I enjoy crocheting, yoga, and listening to podcasts.

I just finished reading Wicked by Gregory Maguire. I have been familiar with the Wizard of Oz film and Wicked the musical for a long time and was surprised it took me so long to pick up the book. It is a prequel to the Wizard of Oz that explains the life of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, and why she became evil. It explores and questions the nature of good and evil. It’s more different from the musical/movie than I was expecting!