Teen Lit Boxes, Teen Lit Centers, and Teen Literacy Events across Los Angeles.
Teen Lit Boxes
Since the Covid-19 crisis began, there has been a demand for books now more than ever. Though our in-person events have been put on hold, we started an exciting new programming initiative called Lit Boxes. Our Lit Boxes are filled with high-interest books and literacy materials, and are being delivered to foster care, homeless, and low-income service organizations. They are our Lit Centers in a box, which means they are peer-driven and interactive! Every box is carefully curated for each individual site so no two boxes are alike. Our Lit Boxes remove the barriers to reading so that even the most reluctant reader picks up a book.
Learn more by contacting us.
Teen Lit Centers
Our Lit Centers are housed at facilities and schools that serve foster care, homeless, and low-income teens. They are equipped with literacy materials and a complete giveaway library. We utilize trained peer facilitators to maintain these centers so they remain relevant and accessible to the teens we serve. As always, we give books with a “no strings attached” policy. Because our goal is to get books into the community, kids are welcome to return and exchange books from the collection, share them with peers in their neighborhood, or keep them for themselves.
Teen Literacy Events
While currently on hold due to Covid-19, we look forward to when our Literacy Events will resume. The Book Truck holds Literacy Events throughout Los Angeles and every year, we give thousands of books to teens in underserved communities. We bring our truck to events at high schools and teen service organizations all over the city. The Book Truck also plans special visits to larger youth resource fairs such as YALLWEST Book Festival and United Friends of the Children’s College Within Reach. Our Literacy Events are staffed by trained teen volunteers who come from all across LA, including from the communities we serve.
If you are interested in inviting The Book Truck to your school or organization’s event, apply online.
What our teens are saying.
“I think reading is important because it expands our minds and gives us a new perspective on life. It also helps us forget about our problems and have a good educational experience.”
-Ishmael
“It helps me imagine things that take me out of reality. Read to Dream.”
-Desiree
“Reading is important because it’s another world you can escape to. I read so that I can stay away from drugs.”
-Savanah
Comics are in huge demand!! We cannot thank @bnwcomics and their customers enough for the amazing comic book drives! ❤️
#thebooktruck #comics #nonprofit
Hoping to learn more this week in honor of Indigenous People’s Day? Check out these titles!
#indigenouspeoplesday #indegenouslivesmatter #thebooktruck
Huge thank you to Councilmember @mikeboninla for connecting us with the Mar Vista Gardens Jack and Cindy Jones Youth Center - operated by the Boys and Girls Club. Excited to drop off Lit Boxes for their teens!! Books from this drop also went to our long time partner @safeplaceforyouth serving homeless youth in Venice.
“Censorship is the child of fear and the father of ignorance.” -Laurie Halse Anderson
#bannedbooksweek #bookstagram #thebooktruck
The Belles series by @brownbookworm is a favorite on the Truck! “Hard to stop reading!” “If you like Uglies by Scott Westerfield, you'll love this!”
#thebooktruck #thebelles #bookstagram
Amazing book drive by @nlyminc Mid Valley Chapter!!! Over 550 brand new books directly from our wishlist!! These will have an incredible impact. Can’t wait to get them into our next round of Lit Boxes!
#thebooktruck #bookstagram #nationalleagueofyoungmen
So great to continue working with the amazing college access and success program @determinedtosucceedla !
#thebooktruck #teenliteracy
Shout out to the amazing @lapiphi for their wonderful book grant through @firstbookorg and for all of their support over the years!! #thebooktruck #bookdrive #teenliteracy
Lit Boxes for moms and babies @stannestoday , an agency serving pregnant and parenting foster youth!!
Some books we brought to the incredible @sbccthrivela ! ❤️📚
So happy to get these books to @firststarcsusb - an awesome organization that mentors foster youth!!
Another amazing donation from @bnwcomics !! We FILLED the truck! Thank you to everyone who donated!
Lit Boxes dropped off at @schoolonwheels ! They are helping us distribute these books to teens at 23 homeless shelters across LA County!!
AMAZING books from a #blackauthorsmatter book drive and fundraiser by @alana.j.w and @iknowjillion !!! Thank you so much!! We can’t wait to share these with the teens we serve!
More books for @safeplaceforyouth ! #bookstagram #thebooktruck #literacy
The Black Authors Matter book drive has been amazing!! Thank you to everyone who has donated, and thank you again to @unitedbypop for organizing. We are soooo excited to pack these new titles into Lit Boxes!! #blackauthorsmatter #thebooktruck
Thank you @unitedbypop for organizing the Black Authors Matter book drive! The link to their website is in our bio if you’d like to donate!
#thebooktruck #blackauthorsmatter
“Black Lives Matter. Black Stories Matter. Black People Matter.” -Nic Stone #blackouttuesday
The car is packed and we only picked up half of the donations from @bnwcomics !! Huge thank you to everyone who donated! We’re in the middle of putting together Lit Boxes for teens in over 25 homeless shelters and foster youth group homes. These will be a big hit!! #literature #thebooktruck #bookstagram
Thanks to the generous support of an anonymous donor and @firstbookorg we are getting books prepped to go out to students (PreK-12th grade) experiencing food insecurity in North Long Beach.
#thebooktruck #literacy #nonprofit