The Bring on the Books Foundation, founded by Sohayle Sizar (COL ’14), continues to expand beyond the Hilltop as its annual Bring on the Books Drive enters its third year at Georgetown.
Sizar started the nonprofit in 2008 when he noticed that old books at his high school were going to waste — laying unused in storage closets or getting thrown out.
“For me when I was a kid, books were a way to escape the homogeneity of my neighborhood where I didn’t really have that many friends,” Sizar said. “For me, a book … gave its entire existence to me, and I want to share that with other kids.”
Sizar says what started as an instinct to help his beloved books became a passion for sharing literature with children.
Bring on the Books has collected approximately 8,000 children’s books at Georgetown, plus another 75,000 books at other universities across the nation. Offshoot chapters are growing at New York University and at nearby University of Maryland.
Sizar credits Georgetown alumni with bringing the drive to the attention of organizations like Teach for America as well corporations such as Goldman Sachs.
Sizar’s long-term vision — expanding the organization nationally — appears to be well on its way.
However, at Georgetown, just four students manage the organization alongside Sizar: Charlie Long (COL ’15), who will take over the Georgetown chapter when Sizar graduates this spring, Kevin Lo (COL ’16), Jane Song (COL ’14) and Tyler Bridge (COL ’17).
The chapter works with other Georgetown groups and community partners to collect books annually; these books are then donated to Georgetown’s tutoring program, D.C. Reads, and — starting this year — the Family Literacy Project at the Georgetown University Law Center.
The foundation has received support from Students of Georgetown Inc., the Georgetown University Student Association, the Office of the Provost and various other student organizations.
The Corp has used its philanthropy committee to provide the foundation with funds; this year, it will continue to designate its coffee shops as drop-off sites for the Bring on the Books Drive.
According to Sizar, the Office of the Provost has also allied with the organization. Professor James O’Donnell was the acting provost when Bring on the Books came to Georgetown in 2011. O’Donnell continues to support the foundation as a member of the board.
“[I’m] a little bit cheerleader, a little bit mentor, a little bit quality control,” he said.
O’Donnell was attracted to the project’s intellectual priority — to foster literacy in young people — as well as its overarching pragmatism.
“I’ve seen a lot of student organizations, student groups [and] student ideas over the years, and the ones that worked best are the ones that get residents in the community and have resonance for the community, and I think this one can and has,” he said.
Provost Groves also supports Bring on the Books through campus-wide emails, enabling the team to communicate with other members of the university.
Lo, who handles the foundation’s outreach-and-communications initiatives, has enlisted help from several Greek organizations on campus, including the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.
“There should be basically no group on campus that we couldn’t work with,” Lo said.
Lo also hopes to enlist Strive for College during future book-drive efforts.
“A lot of the kids that we’re helping [in Strive for College] kind of came from the same background as those who need them [the books], so it would become ‘do you want to help out, basically, those who will be in your spot later?’” Lo said.
Bring on the Books also works with local businesses and charity organizations, which provide donations to support the foundation’s mission.
“I think the vision is so much more beyond me. … It’s really about sharing the experience with others because it is a right,” Sizar said.
The Bring on the Books Drive takes place March 7 through April 25 this year. Donation sites are available at The Corp’s Midnight MUG, Uncommon Grounds and More Uncommon Grounds locations.
