About
Books Save Lives is a direct support program created to turn non-reading communities into multi-generational reading hot spots of literacy. Our primary strategy is to position ourselves into previously established areas where children frequent and train the adults and the teenagers to utilize the techniques outlined in our 8 Step VISCERAL Method. Our technique, rooted in customer service, uses a combination of both literacy and introspection to empower children. We then help supply teen-vetted books proven to improve literacy and bolster self-awareness.
Books Save Lives understands that quality, diverse literacy is paramount in our lives and the texts we offer must be relatable as well as accessible. In addition to direct community support, BSL assists teachers, schools and districts in creating classroom libraries as well as school libraries that reflect the diverse student population our schools serve. We also provide the training teachers need in order to effectively and efficiently run a classroom with choice/independent reading as the main focus of instruction and learning.
Established in 2019. Our Board of Directors includes:
Daphne Russell, Founder & Executive Director
Tracy Cracchiolo
Lance Jones
Annette Hernandez-Parkhurst
Thank you so much to the Friends of Books Save Lives that have helped and encouraged our progress.
William Conway
Karen McCloskey, Beach Fleischman
Frey Creative Marketing
Caps and More
Thank you to Richard Small, The Stonewall Foundation and Community Foundation for Southern Arizona for their repeated donations.
Thank you to John and Tracy Smith and the Long Cares Foundation for their recent donation.
The following are testimonials of just what happens when a child finds the book they need.
We believe everyone deserves the opportunity to forge their own literacy path in order to manifest an intentional future.
Our Mission
Every teen deserves a most important book. Books Save Lives provides books that teens will read and the support they need to transform their lives one book at a time.
Our Vision
Books Save Lives believes the right book at the right time transforms the mind with no less consequence than the mutation of the pupa to the butterfly.
Our goal is to train adults to teach youth already in their programs (e.g., the Boys’ and Girls’ Club, foster children, etc.) how to use books to change their own trajectories. Armed with hardbacks and tattered pages our youth will be equipped to forge their own paths on their own terms. In turn, many of our participants will come back and work as mentors in our program.