January 13, 2022
Book Harvest will host its 11th annual Dream Big Book Drive and Community Celebration on the afternoon of Martin Luther King Jr. Day – Monday, Jan. 17 – from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Durham Central Park.
Community members are invited to bring donations of new and gently used children’s books to Dream Big. All donated books will be provided to children in Durham and beyond through Book Harvest’s book access and literacy initiatives.
Attendees can enjoy free popcorn from Mad Popper, activities with the Durham Museum of Life and Science, poems written in real time by the Poetry Fox, a performance by the Bouncing Bulldogs, an appearance by Wool E. Bull and other beloved mascots, and fun games and giveaways! Plus, there will be crafts with Scrap Exchange and delicious donuts and drinks from Mr. A’s Beignet’s food truck! Watch a sneak peek of Dream Big 2022 here.
The event is fully outdoors; masks are required. Safety protocols are subject to change based on local and state recommendations. For families interested in a contact-free option, there will be a drive-through lane for book donation drop-off. Guests can also drive through to receive a free bag of children’s books.
To date, 90 book drive captains throughout the Triangle have signed up to run Dream Big book drives in their neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, congregations, and civic groups, in order to honor Dr. King’s legacy of service. Volunteers across the country are leading virtual book drives, in which participants make purchases from Book Harvest’s online wishlist through The Regulator. Learn more about both of these types of book drives and sign up at https://bookharvest.org/dreambig/.
More than 65,000 new and gently used children’s books were collected at Book Harvest’s 2021 Dream Big Book Drive and Community Celebration, which was held in a drive-through format due to the pandemic. More than 500 cars drove through that afternoon, and the donated titles were part of the more than 1.6 million books children have harvested since Book Harvest’s founding in 2011.
Book Harvest’s 2022 Dream Big ‘Dream’ Sponsor is Scholastic; ‘Lead’ sponsors include The Forest at Duke, Hendrick Subaru Southpoint, Mebane Charitable Foundation, Participate Learning, Elevation Church, United Way of the Greater Triangle, and Written Word Media. A total of 64 sponsors have signed on in support of the organization’s big dreams of books in the home of every child. See the full list here.
“Dream Big is an extraordinary opportunity to celebrate Dr. King and to make a real difference in the lives and imaginations of Durham’s kids,” said Book Harvest’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer Ginger Young. “Our community is fully committed to help realize our vision of a world in which reading, learning, and access to information are considered rights, not privileges – so that all children can thrive.”