I am having the Best Month Ever

This week, I was named one of L'Oreal's 2015 Women of Worth. The words that come to mind don't seem sufficient to describe what this means... to me, to Books for Keeps.  I'm honored, but you know all I really care about is making the most of this opportunity to expand Books for Keeps.

L'Oreal sent a film crew here to make a video.  What an experience!

And here is the 30-second version of the actual video.

But you know what the best part was? Listening in on the interviews they did with folks other than me. I thought I would hear stories about Books for Keeps and the impact it's having - and I did - but there was so much more.

Some highlights:

A school counselor mentioning how, most of the time, children from low-income families feel "Less Than" but on Books for Keeps day, they are "Same As." There wasn't a dry eye in the room.

That same counselor said that teachers can become desensitized to the gaps in these children's needs, but that Books for Keeps has inspired them that simple solutions to help the child right in front of them are still worth doing.

Two of our volunteers, who are retired, mentioned that volunteering for Books for Keeps gives them a sense of worth... proves that retirees still have value and something to contribute to society.

The school superintendent, Dr. Phil Lanoue, brought up the sacrifice my family made for three years to make Books for Keeps a reality. By "family" that means my husband Bayne. He was our sole income during that time, so that I could focus.  He is the unsung hero of Books for Keeps.

Dr. Jennifer Graff described the enormity of the challenge we faced. She said
"When Melaney approached me about her plan to turn our study into a program, I thought to myself, 'We had eight paid staff, millions of dollars in funding and a publisher handling fulfillment – and she wants to do this with none of those?!”

WE DID IT! And we're still doing it.


And the children. One described using his BFK books to teach himself better English. Another was so proud to have learned more words, bigger words, by reading her BFK books.  We're looking for a bookshelf for one student who has nowhere to store his books. We gave our student interviewees a special bag of books to say thank you, and their faces lit up like it was Christmas.

I tried to describe all this for Bayne, and all I could come up with was "soul restoring." It was like getting a preview of what people will say about you at your funeral.  

With all that said, my perspective hasn't changed.  I get so much credit for Books for Keeps. Yes, I worked hard. But what I really did was ask for help, and people said YES. One book, one hour, one dollar, one Facebook post.  These individual actions are Books for Keeps.  We are proof of what happens when you stop asking "Why doesn't somebody do something about this?" and start declaring "I am somebody. I can do something about this."

I hope you will vote - every day - for Books for Keeps to receive the $25,000 L'Oreal Women of Worth grant. More books for more children - that's all that matters.