by Joe Nolting | Apr 13, 2020 | Blog Posts
Kids Need Books is sidelined until the COVID-19 crisis abates. In the meantime, here’s a story from last summer. The noon sun bakes the church grounds in Lynden. Leaves on the cottonwood trees are motionless in the still air. Although the outdoor food bank will...
by Joe Nolting | Apr 2, 2020 | Blog Posts
Kids Need Books is sidelined until the COVID-19 crisis abates. In the meantime, here’s a story from last spring. It’s the weekly book distribution at Alderwood Elementary School. The frail, nine-year-old girl’s thin hair is as fine as silk. She walks along...
by Joe Nolting | Mar 26, 2020 | Blog Posts
The familiar world we once knew has come tumbling down—replaced by the fear and uncertainty of a rapidly spreading and potentially lethal virus. People are “sheltering in place,” as if this were a live shooter drill in school. Only it isn’t. It’s real and the killer...
by Joe Nolting | Mar 19, 2020 | Blog Posts
The Latina mom moved along the tables picking out books for her three children, all under six years of age. Tonight her kids had stayed home, which allowed her to linger over the books, and savor the peace of being unencumbered, if only for a brief while. She held...
by Joe Nolting | Feb 21, 2020 | Blog Posts
My brother Tom (in Colorado) hoped to get Kids Need Books national recognition and he did a lot of work to make it happen—completed application forms, contacted references, and made a slew of phone calls. I was surprised and touched when he called. Soon I learned that...