Welcome

Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.  --Margaret Fuller

My Very Own Book is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization that was established to run reading incentive programs in elementary schools in low-income neighborhoods in North Texas school districts.  This 2011-2012 school year is our third program year.  We have expanded from three to five to now seven elementary schools.    

Participating students are rewarded for minutes read at home with a certificate and a new, free book of their choice at the end of each six weeks period.  This program encourages children to read outside of school hours, works to increase literacy skills, and puts new books in the homes of families who often can't afford the luxury of purchasing their own new books.  Students experience the joy of earning and owning their very own books.

For more details about the program or our schools, please visit our Program & Schools page.

Please go to our Donate page to see our new video and learn about our 2012 Sustaining Donors campaign.

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Payroll Deductions

We are happy to report that the long United Way vetting process has been completed and we are now approved to receive payroll deductions.  If you normally donate a portion of your pay, we hope you will consider choosing us as your charity.  In the blank space on the form write "My Very Own Book."

Click here to see an inspirational video about the impact of your donations or to learn about more ways to donate/help MVOB.

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E-mails from My Very Own Book

Click here to sign up to receive e-mails from MVOB.  We only send e-mails approximately every 1-3 weeks - promise not to inundate you with e-mails - and you can unsubscribe at any time.  Receiving our e-mails is a good way to stay up-to-date with our organization and show your support!

Interested in Volunteering?
Please join our e-mail list.  Volunteer opportunities are announced in our Update e-mails.  Volunteer activities include selecting books to go to schools, processing books (accounting, sorting, shelving), manning a table at book drives and community events, helping at MVOB fundraisers, etc.
 

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Support us with a click of your mouse or through shopping!

MVOB is a charity on GoodSearch and GoodShop.

GoodSearch:  Use the GoodSearch toolbar (powered by Yahoo!) with us designated as your charity and each time you do a search we'll get a donation.  Those clicks add up!  We've checked it out and the search engine runs just like any other with no more ads than usual.  Go to http://www.goodsearch.com/toolbar/my-very-own-book to download the toolbar.  (see our donate page for more details and a list of searches which don't count)

GoodShop:  Rather than going directly to a store's website when doing on-line shopping, first go to http://www.goodsearch.com/goodshop.aspx or click on the GoodShop button on the GoodSearch toolbar.  If you did not use the toolbar, enter My Very Own Book as your charity to support and then click on any of the many stores to begin shopping.  Each store lists how much they will donate, as well as coupons and deals available to you.        

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A big thanks to...

for donating the use of a very large, climate controlled space to MVOB.  It is perfect for storing our new books and also for volunteers to gather every six weeks to box up books to go to the schools.  We are grateful for this extremely generous contribution.  It is critical to our ability to serve more students!

in Richardson for donating the use of their conference room for our monthly Board meeting.  Having a central and nice location to meet is very helpful.

for donating large quantities of items for our annual dinners and new children's books for our literacy incentive program. Thanks also to the stores for hosting, and customers for donating, more than 2,200 new books during two 2011 holiday book drives.  We appreciate their support of our program and fundraising efforts.

for hosting numerous book drives for us since we were formed.  9,049 new books have been collected and donated to MVOB.  We are honored Borders chose to join with us to put new books into the homes of families in low-income neighborhoods.  We are saddened by their closing.  It is a loss for our non-profit and the community.

for choosing our five schools in 2010 and our two new schools in 2011 to benefit from their drive.  PaperBackSwap members were asked to donate their credits, which the company then translated into new books for our non-profit.  The community was extremely generous and we have received almost 9,000 new books for our program!  We are so grateful for their support.


for donating 473 outstanding new books in Spanish and bilingual books in Spanish/English.  Providing these books at the Primary level is important because parents are better able to read to/with their children.  Also, a major goal of the program is to motivate students to read, and having books in a familiar language for young children is very beneficial as they develop bilingual literacy.  


for awarding us a "School Level" grant.  We are honored that this foundation, which awards grants to non-profits throughout the United States, has chosen to support our goal of expanding to more schools. 

Enterprise Holdings Foundation, First Book, Target, The Harry W. Bass, Jr. Foundation, The Hirsch Family Foundation, The Lisa Libraries, and W.P. and Bulah Luse Foundation for awarding us grants.

Gold Level 2nd Annual Dinner Sponsors: Cinemark USA, Lennox International, and Ashley & Jack Ternan.

Members of the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration and Scholastic, Inc. for donating outstanding books to us.