Texan kids get free books from BookSpring

Amid Texas' Book Bans, BookSpring Puts Millions of Books in Young Hands

As Texas' leaders attempt to ban books, BookSpring, an Austin-based nonprofit, has been working to put books into the hands of children.

The organization, which grew from the 1960s Reading Is Fundamental movement (co-founded by Lynda Johnson Robb), has a long history of promoting literacy and personal book ownership.

"We still have book deserts in Texas," says director Emily Ball Cicchini. "Texas is dead last in the country when it comes to parents reading to their kids."

Emily Ball Cicchini: A Cultural Leader

Born in 1965 in Lansing, Michigan, Cicchini showed early creativity through poetry, art, and performance. Despite familial upheaval during her teens, she pursued her artistic interests, apprenticing at Boarshead Theater and studying at the Goodman School of Drama.

Cicchini's career includes working with major theater companies, writing children's plays, and a fellowship at the Michener Center for Writers at UT, where her mentor was David Mark Cohen.

A Focus on Children

Cicchini's involvement with the Very Special Arts (VSA) program, which provides artistic opportunities for people with disabilities, marked a shift in her focus to arts education and social justice. She also wrote plays for Judy Matetzschk-Campbell's children's theater group, Pollyanna, toured Texas.

BookSpring's Transformation

In 2015, Cicchini became BookSpring's executive director, enabling transformative changes:

• Expanding the building-block program, giving children up to three books of their choice to own forever.
• Doubling the annual budget to $2 million.
• Distributing 300,000 books to 144,000 kids annually across Texas.
• Giving away over 6 million print books.
• Commissioning Spanish-language titles to address language gaps.
• Purchasing and renovating a permanent home for BookSpring in 2022.

"I can see myself finishing out my career with BookSpring... I love this cause of building up children's literacy. I do see it as a way of helping to save democracy—to save the future."