Making Books a Birthright.
We enroll children under age five who live in our two Service Areas, only, to receive new age-appropriate books by mail at no cost, monthly until the month they turn 5. BBBP pays all costs.
Aprender la «mecánica» de los libros: cómo sostenerlos, cómo pasar las páginas, cuál es la orientación correcta (con el tiempo). Estas cosas no son innatas; se aprenden.
Learning the “Mechanics” of books: how to hold them; how to turn pages; which way is Up (eventually). These things are not innate, they are Learned.
For enrollments go to Enroll page. Para inscribir a los niños, diríjase a Inscripción
We serve only / Servimos a solomente
Berkeley+Emeryville & Richmond+San Pablo
The BBBP is a Partner of / es somos socios de Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
BBBP’s 2025 numbers: 26,929 books were mailed to children in our two Programs. 2,766 children got books!
The BBBP pays all costs of our Imagination Library Programs. We are supported by hundreds of individuals and many Para inscribir a los niños, diríjase a Inscripciónlocal Foundations.
Funding leads are always welcome: email seena@thebbbp.org
El BBBP cubre todos los costos de nuestros programas de Imagination Library. Contamos con el apoyo de cientos de particulares y fundaciones locales. Siempre agradecemos cualquier información sobre posibles fuentes de financiación; escriba a seena@thebbbp.org
Go to our 2025 Survey results! Lots of participant Comments:)
“Love receiving the books and how different they are every month. My child LOVED good night gorilla, she loved it so much I inally hid it for a while because we would end up reading it 10-15 times a day! She now enjoys receiving & opening the books herself & leafing through it on her own before we read it together” (repetition strengthens neural connections that support fluent literacy!)
“My son gets excited he’s getting mail, makes it fun to read more.”
LISTEN: EdSource Podcast-ED interview READ: Richmondside Article July 2025 USA Today Opinion March 2026
Go to Imagination Library’s Research
WHY WE DO THIS WORK
Literacy is a cornerstone of social justice and equity. A person with weak or no literacy cannot fully access and participate in our society’s movements, institutions and systems.
Lack of literacy leaves a person functionally handicapped.
We want all children to grow up and become full participants in shaping their future, their world. We need them to be literate. Research shows: having books in the home from the start predicts Kindergarten Readiness better than any other data.
POR QUÉ HACEMOS ESTE TRABAJOLa alfabetización es fundamental para la justicia social y la equidad. Una persona con escasa o nula alfabetización no puede acceder ni participar plenamente en los movimientos, instituciones y sistemas de nuestra sociedad.
La falta de alfabetización supone una discapacidad funcional.
Queremos que todos los niños crezcan y participen plenamente en la construcción de su futuro y de su mundo. Necesitamos que sean alfabetizados. Las investigaciones demuestran que tener libros en casa desde la infancia predice la preparación para el jardín de infancia mejor que cualquier otro factor.