In 2014, together we launched the We Need Diverse Books movement. Ten years later, we’ve grown into a national nonprofit that has changed the landscape of children's literature. The writers we’ve supported have collectively published over four million books. The publishing interns we’ve mentored are now working full-time as editors, agents, and book designers. And we’ve donated over 100,000 diverse titles to students in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and other U.S. Territories.
But in the last few years, WNDB’s mission has come under attack. In Michigan, a school board president backed by the conservative 1776 Project PAC refused to accept our Books Save Lives Grant for months, preventing hundreds of kids from accessing diverse books. In Tennessee, North Carolina, and Massachusetts, we organized free author visits for students, but their teachers were forced to cancel the events because the books featured LGBTQIA+ characters. In state after state, extremist groups have blocked WNDB from doing what we do best—providing diverse books to readers everywhere.
As book bans spread, We Need Diverse Books more than ever. Inclusive literature can foster empathy and build bridges, and we’re harnessing this power to combat rising rates of racism, homophobia, transphobia, and prejudice. Will you join us and make a gift today for our tenth anniversary? With your help, we will be able to:
- Launch Books Building Bridges, an initiative that will build empathy in schools where diversity is scarce. We’ll partner with teachers in communities where a diverse book might be the only avenue for a child to encounter someone who is Asian or queer or Muslim or Black. Over the course of an entire school year, we’ll provide free books, author visits, and other needed resources to cultivate compassion in young readers.
- Send our Bookish Care Packages to LGBTQIA+ youth nationwide. In the last month alone, over 85 schools and organizations have reached out to WNDB to request these packages, and we aim to fulfill every request—and donate even more. We’ll continue to give hope and light to LGBTQIA+ kids and teens who deserve to feel seen and loved.
- Empower diverse writers and illustrators whose voices remain severely underrepresented on our bookshelves, such as Native, Arab, and trans creators. We’ll support these creators via earmarked grants, mentorships, and book donations, using our programming and resources to amplify their work. We’ll also expand our programming to help diverse adult fiction writers tell their stories and get published too.
- Broaden the reach of our Books Save Lives initiative. Book bans increased by 20 percent in 2023 and the numbers keep rising. But through Book Save Lives, we’ll continue speaking out at school board meetings, providing resources to affected teachers, supporting impacted authors via grants and school visits, and sending hundreds of diverse titles to school libraries in battleground communities. Because we know the power of a diverse book.
- Keep working! Your donations will help us sustain current initiatives and WNDB as an organization, so that we can support even more creators, interns, educators, and young readers.
We hope you will consider donating to our fundraiser and celebrating our tenth anniversary with us. Your generosity will allow us to continue fiercely advocating for change—within publishing, within our schools, and throughout the country. Will you make a donation between now and May 24th?