Share-A-Book

Providing new and quality pre-loved books and magazines to Indigenous, refugee and marginalised communities.

One of the many challenges faced by ALNF when implementing literacy programs in marginalised communities is the lack of basic literacy resources available to students. This presents a significant barrier in helping these children develop the necessary literacy skills required of them to actively participate in the schooling environment.

Share-A-Book (SAB) provides new and quality pre-loved books and magazines to Indigenous, refugee and marginalised communities in need of resources. Children's and early teens books and magazines are donated to ALNF by schools, corporations, publishing houses, booksellers and individuals and are then distributed to targeted regions across Australia.

Share-A-Book seeks to promote a non-intrusive method to introduce a variety of print materials into the child's world. Once books are received into communities ALNF Share-A-Book Libraries are established in local schools, pre-schools, community and language centres. Community members are invited to borrow the books with no negative consequences if the books are damaged or dirtied. The books do not need to be returned to the library but can be kept at home if desired.

Positive outcomes have included the complete replenishment of all library 'stock' due to the high demand, a greater overall community engagement in the reading process, applications from many more communities to receive Share-A-Book Libraries and increased community engagement in ALNF's literacy programs where the Share-A-Book initiative is made available.

Long-Term Outcomes: By introducing access to print earlier in a child's development, it is more likely that the child will be aware of and engage in print-based activities in the future.

If you would like to donate children's books to ALNF's Share-A-Book program please send them to:

Share-A-Book
208 New South Head Road
Edgecliff NSW 2027

Please Note that ALNF accepts the following books: baby books, picture books, easy readers and early teen novels. We will also accept DIY style magazines, with a focus on craft, gardening, health and cooking. Unfortunately we are unable to accept adult novels, texts books and books of a religious nature.

Donations to assist ALNF in the re-distribution of books and establishment of Share-A-Book Libraries are an important way that you can help support the Share-A-Book program.

Share-A-Book Day

Share-A-Book Day is a school fundraising initiative where students are invited to donate a second hand book and gold coin to assist ALNF in providing much needed resources to Indigenous Australian communities, refugee communities and disadvantaged youth. ALNF believes that reading is a whole of community activity. By asking students to personally select books from their own collections to give to children less fortunate then them, ALNF is creating an opportunity for students, and schools, to participate in a fundraising event that is relevant, meaningful and engaging.

School Parent on Share-A-Book Day:

"Our Share-A-Book collection last year was an enormous success. One of the reasons why the initiative worked so well was because the children really engaged with the idea of choosing and donating books that would give other children as much joy as they had received when reading them. Long conversations were held about what book each child considered to be a personal favourite and how much they hoped children in outback Australia would love that book too. As a parent group, we found the children were much more interested in doing this type of 'charity day' than bringing a 'gold coin' to donate for some unspecified project. The whole school united in the project. When the final number of books collected was announced in assembly, the whole school stood up and cheered and felt a great sense of pride. The number collected was 3 times greater than expected."

Watch this space for more information on Share-A-Book Day 2010.

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