Half Price Books Gives Away 14,000 Books to Local Organizations

Schools, libraries, and non-profit organizations from around the Bay Area today enjoyed the opportunity to pick up free children's books at Half Price Books locations, including the bookstore chain's Dublin branch.

The books were donated by members of the community during the company's 14th Annual Half Pint Library book drive. Half Price books matched each book donated by the community.

Approximately 2,000 books were given away to around 20 organizations at the Dublin location. Throughout the Bay Area, around 14,000 books were given away. Nationwide, the total was approximately 340,000, topping last year's total of 313,000.

"Literacy is a big priority for [Half Price Books], so the more people we can turn on to reading, the better," said Matt Dalton, Half Price Books District Manager.

The book donations help to alleviate financial pressures faced by many local organizations.

"I think [this event] is great. We work off of fundraisers and donations, so we turn to donations from the community a lot," said Teren Ruiz, a director at Kidango, a non-profit that provides after-school programs for children.

Ruiz picked up several boxes of books to be used at Kidango locations around the Bay Area.

Half Price Books has additional programs to promote literacy and education, as well. The company offers teachers a 10 percent discount on purchases.

It also sponsors a summer reading program called Feed Your Brain, which rewards children with gift cards when they log the amount of time they spend reading.