Happy holidays from the Maryland Book Bank! This time of year always brings an opportunity for reflection, and lately I’ve been thinking about an important concept for our MBB team: fostering a literacy ecosystem.   When Kim Crout, our wonderful Program Director, first used that phrase, I wasn’t sure what she meant. A literacy ecosystem? What does that look like?   Before we can define a literacy ecosystem, it’s important to first understand that reading is a complicated skil

One of my favorite parts of working at the Book Bank is getting to see thousands of book covers per day. The books we see range in color, size, texture, and shape, and the illustrations are incredible.   The most classic children’s characters from picture books - Eric Carle’s very hungry caterpillar, Mo Willems’ Elephant and Piggie, and Dr. Seuss’s Cat in the Hat - are colorful, creative, and loveable. They’ve become so beloved because of the way these characters enhance the

As I round out my fifth week working at the MBB, something that has continuously stuck out to me as a core principle of the Book Bank is the idea of books as a fundamental right. This concept is something that Kim, our lovely Program Director, is a huge advocate for:   “Literacy is not a luxury. Books are a human right.  They are the building blocks of equity, empathy, and opportunity. Access to books should never depend on a family’s zip code or income. Every child deserves

Happy October, everyone! I hope your spooky season is off to a great start. I’m Grace, the new Program Coordinator at the Maryland Book...

My name is Mac Ferrone, a senior at Loyola University Maryland who will graduate in May. Looking back over the semester and my college...

Looking at the U.S. as a whole, “One in four adults…have a disability,” while fostering a proper, inclusive environment for all people...

Since its founding over 20 years ago, the Maryland Book Bank has placed over a million books into the hands of children and adults across...

While we don’t get to choose where or when we’re born, where we start in life plays a huge role in shaping our future—especially when it...

Whether loading up the Bookmobile to transport books to students or filling up shelves at our physical location, the Maryland Book Bank...

Baltimore is the “City that Reads.” That is, former Mayor Kurt Schmoke proclaimed it so in his 1987 inaugural address (The City That...

Through our efforts to organize and distribute donations to families and educators throughout Maryland, The Maryland Book Bank is not a...

Millions of books, written by a wide range of people, are released yearly. Likewise, the Maryland Book Bank recognizes that books written...

Some may take their proximity to books for granted–having casual and regular access to them physically or online. However, this reality...

My name is Isabel Volpe, and this fall semester, I have been working as a Sustainability Intern for the Maryland Book Bank. I am a senior...

Literacy is a blanket term for the ability to read, speak, and comprehend a language at a certain level. It is such an important topic...

What is Sustainability? Everyone is talking about it, but what does it mean? Sustainability is an approach that can be applied to...

Breathing new life into the covers of older titles can captivate younger readers, rekindling their curiosity and deepening their...

The shelf of graphic novels is probably one of the more modern additions to your local library or bookstore. While some still view...

September is National Literacy Month! This means it is the perfect time to reflect on the vital role that literacy plays in our lives and...

In early education, reading is a fundamental skill nurtured both in school and at home. The stories we tell our children and the worlds...