Book Trust

“Book trust changed its bylaws during 2017 to make the president & ceo a voting member of the board of directors.”

“A copy of the form 990 is reviewed by the treasurer and the president/ceo.”

“Each fall, all board policies are reviewed with board members. At that time, the conflict of interst forms are reviewed and board members are asked to disclose any conflicts and complete a conflict of interest affirmation certificate. Each year, board members review and reaffirm.”

“There is an annual comparison of the book trust's president & ceo's compensation against guidestar's compensation review for organizations of similar size and mission. The executive committee meets to review and approve the compensation amount and forwards a written performance review to the president & ceo. The organization maintains the appropriate documentation.”

“Governing documents are available upon written request.”

“Book trust's mission is to uniquely deliver choice and ownership of books to children from low-income families, increasing their literacy skills and fostering life-long learning. We imagine a world where literacy removes barriers and provides all children with the tools to navigate life successfully. Book trust raises funds so that participating children in high-poverty elementary schools can choose and own 1-2 scholastic books each month, or 18-20 books over the course of the school year, building a home library when they would otherwise have limited or no access to books at home. Through a variety of supports, including teacher training and family engagement, students are empowered to choose and keep their own interest-based titles through their monthly scholastic book orders, experiencing the joy and power of reading. More than 20 years ago, a young fort collins student was distressed to realize that many of her classmates were unable to purchase books through the monthly scholastic catalogs because their families didn't have enough money. Years later, when the little girl was an adult, she returned to colorado and founded book trust to ensure that all children would have the chance to fall in love with reading by choosing and owning their own books. In 2001, book trust began operating as a pilot program under the fiscal sponsorship of the serimus foundation and this pilot reached 170 students across larimer county. By 2006, book trust had obtained independent nonprofit status. Book trust currently serves approximately 55,000 students in 21 states (arizona, california, colorado, florida, hawaii, idaho, iowa, michigan, missouri, montana, nebraska, new mexico, new york, oregon, pennsylvania, texas, utah, virginia, washington, wisconsin and wyoming), helping them to choose, own, and love their own books, becoming lifelong readers and learners.”

“The organization did not make significant changes to how it conducts its program service, but it did make changes to the way schools pay to participate in the program service.”

“Book trust seeks to change the lives of children, and that change is grounded in research and evaluation. Our ongoing evaluation efforts demonstrate book trust programs are generating an interest in and excitement for reading and learning for low-income students, improving literacy skills, and increasing family and parental engagement in reading at home. Book trust is teacher-led and student-driven, supporting great classroom literacy instruction with interest-based book choice and ownership to drive student engagement and to inspire kids' passion for reading. Book trust's program fosters a culture of literacy both at school and at home. In the 2017-2018 school year, book trust worked with over 2,647 teachers in 175 schools within 62 districts acrosss 21 states (arizona, california, colorado, florida, hawaii, idaho, iowa, michigan, missouri, montana, nebraska, new york, oregon, pennsylvania, texas, utah, virginia, washington, west virginia, wisconsin and wyoming), serving 54,910 students, allowing them to choose and own almost 850,000 new books for their home libraries. Our 2016-2017 national evaluation results demonstrated improved literacy skills: book trust classrooms saw a nearly 19% increase in the number of students reading at grade level by year's end. Highlights from our 2017-2018 national teacher survey include: - book trust teachers reported a 255% increase in parent/teacher conversations about reading with their child at home, in schools that had book trust - 91% of teachers report feeling empowered to dedicate class time for independent reading - 87% of teachers report feeling empowered to dedicating class time for students to choose their own books to own and read - 66% of teachers reported that at school, students read books they choose every day book trust teachers reported a 59% increase in student participation in nightly reading minutes vs schools that did not have book trust.”