Books in the home are the number one determinant of early academic success, according to the U.S. Department of Education. However, 61% of America’s low-income children grow up in households without any.
Junior Natalie London organized a year long book drive in the Tia Palermo Library, giving the Archer community the opportunity to donate gently used books appropriate for reading levels from kindergarten through eighth grade. Donated books will go towards her organization, Tattered Tales, which is a nonprofit dedicated to providing underserved children with second-hand books to promote literacy in a sustainable way.
London partnered with the Heart of Los Angeles, an initiative that offers programming for kids in underserved communities, to host two free book fairs last school year and hosted a third after school Friday, Dec. 6.
“I really needed more books. It’s difficult to get people to want to give you stuff for free, obviously. So I was hoping that the Archer community would be as generous as it normally is with drives, and I’ve gotten some great books from the community members, which I’m really grateful for,” London said. “But I was just hoping to get enough to have the event, and it’s looking good. Teachers have also been giving books, which is so great. The Archer community has probably donated around 100 books so far.”
Senior Lucia Williams donated several of her favorite books from childhood. Williams considers herself an avid reader, attributing her love for books to her parents who encouraged her to explore diverse stories from a young age.
“When I just discovered that there was a book drive at Archer and that I’d be able to kind of give that gift of reading to other young children, just as I used to be able to have it, I got really excited,” Williams said. “I absolutely loved ‘Stella is a Star’ when I was little. It’s about this dog who joins a ballerina studio for pig ballerinas and wants to hide her identity in the beginning, but then at the end, she is her true self. The book shines an amazing message of authenticity and really taught me about how to be myself, so I hope that another young kid is able to read this and adopt those values as well.”
London regularly posts on the Tattered Tales instagram account and website to spread her mission of promoting literacy in underserved communities. Librarian Denise Hernandez helped London, who is also a library ambassador, to increase visibility and community involvement in the drive.
“I’ve heard Natalie talk about it, and I’ve seen her post book handouts and events, and she’s just so excited. You can see the pure, goodwill intention to give books to kids who don’t have access to these resources. The people who are turning books in for the drive bring in beautiful books, and they’re all in great condition. I think everyone’s really excited about the upcycling aspect of it,” Hernandez said. “So what we want to do, or rather what I want to do on the library end, is just put her out there even more: feature her on the library Instagram, the library website and to give her more overall visibility, especially since she’s a junior, I’d love to see how much more this could take off in the rest of the school year and then her senior year.”
As a continuation of her ninth grade service project proposal, London founded her nonprofit. She said she wanted to pursue service she was passionate about and that intersected with her hobbies, so hosting book fairs perfectly fit that description.
“I’ve really liked to read since I was little, but it’s been really fun to see so many kids who, like most of them, don’t have books in their house. They get to take home these books, and they’re all super excited,” London said. “That’s been super rewarding because it was such a fundamental part of my childhood to get to be reading and growing up around literature. I’m so glad that my service allows me to help other kids have that experience as well.”
![After the ceremony, Natalie Huang ('25), Lily Poon ('25) and Addie Meyers ('25) pose to take a picture. Many seniors took pictures with their family and friends after the ceremony to capture moments during Founders Day. "A moment that I enjoyed is right after Founders Day, when a lot of seniors were taking pictures," Curry said. "They were kind of doing things [to] soak up those last Founders Day memories. Because even if we forget what was said during the speeches, and even if we forget everyone who was in our class, who will forever have those pictures, and those will be cemented memories."](https://archeroracle.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/k-1200x800.jpg)
