During the first lockdown of the Covid-19 Pandemic in 2020, Third Place Books created the Books to Students Fund in response to an urgent need. Many students’ only access to books is through their school libraries. With the schools closed, our booksellers began looking for a way to get books into the hands of young readers in need. Partnering with local school districts that were providing meals to students facing food insecurity at home, Third Place Books began bringing free books for students and families to pick up along with their meals.
To make this happen, Third Place Books asked for help from our local community. The response to our call for aid was even more than we had hoped, raising over $30,000 in the first 3 months.
During the recent 2025-26 school year, the Fund donated over 1,700 books to more than 40 schools and community organizations in the Seattle metropolitan area. The Fund also supported over 90 author visits to schools in the Seattle metropolitan area during that same time.
With funding shortages affecting schools and school libraries, declining literacy rates, and book bans threatening access to literature across the country, the need for books and engagement with authors at a young age has never been more important.
That’s why, in the fall of 2026, Third Place Books is launching the Third Place Literary Foundation to enhance and expand the work of the Books to Students Fund and improve our reach and diversity of programming. The Foundation is Third Place’s arm into our community, bringing the enthusiasm and love for literature we see in our stores every day into classrooms and community hubs across our city.