The mission of Books for Keeps is to inspire joyful experiences around literacy that can be forever associated with learning. Founded by volunteers in Athens, GA, in 2009, Books for Keeps has since distributed more than 1.5 million books to children, teachers, fellow peer agencies, and other individuals through various book access programs. Alongside book distribution, the BFK team coordinates community engagement opportunities around Georgia and collaborates with literacy-focused agencies across the country to further opportunities to provide book access by way of the PreK Book Bundles program, the bookmobile, and most recently, the Storytellers Literacy Mentoring program.
The Storyteller’s Literacy Mentor Program provides one-on-one literacy mentoring to 1st–3rd grade students by leveraging trained volunteers as mentors. In partnership with Clarke County School District and Get Comfortable, the program works to engage the community in creating excitement around reading and forming supportive relationships to collectively help increase the 3rd grade reading proficiency rate in Athens-Clarke County. Students participating in the program are matched with volunteer mentors for an additional hour of individualized literacy practice each week for an entire school year. Students and mentors meet during the school day for 30-minute sessions twice weekly to read together, play literacy games, and reflect on progress. The program is currently at two elementary school sites: Howard B Stroud and Fowler Drive. This past year, the 2024-25 school year, 133 volunteer mentors contributed 2,100 hours of one-on-one mentoring sessions for 130 students in 1st-3rd grade. The first of a two-year comparative RTI (response to intervention) evaluation done in 2023 confirmed program efficacy: students matched with mentors showed 3.4 times the growth in reading proficiency over the course of the year compared to their non-matched peers.
Books for Keeps is seeking an operations-minded and mission-driven School Coordinator to support the Storytellers Literacy Mentor Program at one of our two current school-based locations. The coordinator’s primary responsibility is to oversee the day-to-day operations of the Literacy Mentor Program at their assigned school while collaborating with the program staff to ensure congruence and the best support possible for students and mentors in the program. The position is currently grant-funded through Get Comfortable (i.e. the multi-business philanthropic effort spearheaded by Creature Comforts Brewing Company), with guaranteed funding through May 2026.
The full job description can be found here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/167XXSdesXDTl6v4FJHXPZnxLpkCgIEIN/view
The application can be found here: https://form.jotform.com/250285497708165
The Storyteller’s Literacy Mentor Program provides one-on-one literacy mentoring to 1st–3rd grade students by leveraging trained volunteers as mentors. In partnership with Clarke County School District and Get Comfortable, the program works to engage the community in creating excitement around reading and forming supportive relationships to collectively help increase the 3rd grade reading proficiency rate in Athens-Clarke County. Students participating in the program are matched with volunteer mentors for an additional hour of individualized literacy practice each week for an entire school year. Students and mentors meet during the school day for 30-minute sessions twice weekly to read together, play literacy games, and reflect on progress. The program is currently at two elementary school sites: Howard B Stroud and Fowler Drive. This past year, the 2024-25 school year, 133 volunteer mentors contributed 2,100 hours of one-on-one mentoring sessions for 130 students in 1st-3rd grade. The first of a two-year comparative RTI (response to intervention) evaluation done in 2023 confirmed program efficacy: students matched with mentors showed 3.4 times the growth in reading proficiency over the course of the year compared to their non-matched peers.
Books for Keeps is seeking an operations-minded and mission-driven School Coordinator to support the Storytellers Literacy Mentor Program at one of our two current school-based locations. The coordinator’s primary responsibility is to oversee the day-to-day operations of the Literacy Mentor Program at their assigned school while collaborating with the program staff to ensure congruence and the best support possible for students and mentors in the program. The position is currently grant-funded through Get Comfortable (i.e. the multi-business philanthropic effort spearheaded by Creature Comforts Brewing Company), with guaranteed funding through May 2026.
The full job description can be found here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/167XXSdesXDTl6v4FJHXPZnxLpkCgIEIN/view
The application can be found here: https://form.jotform.com/250285497708165
