We’re guessing that you love books as much as we do if you’re sitting there at your house (or, ahem, office), reading this blog. But have you ever considered volunteering with a local or national reading and literacy nonprofit group? There are dozens of amazing organizations supporting literacy and reading throughout the nation. We’ve rounded up a few of our favorites—large and small—below.

First Book (http://www.firstbook.org/)

First Book delivers books to children in low-income families across the US and Canada. The Washington, DC-based organization has been supporting literacy for more than twenty years and has donated more than ninety million books to date. In fact, the organization coordinates more than 35,000 book donations per day. First Book has plenty of ways to get involved, including volunteering, advisory boards, donations, virtual book drives, and more.

World Book Night (http://www.us.worldbooknight.org/)

World Book Night is an international annual celebration of reading, held every year in the US, UK, and Ireland on April 23. Tens of thousands of volunteers work in their communities to hand out free paperbacks. The organization, run by representatives of some of the largest publishing companies in the world, designates a few dozen adult and middlegrade books each year (to see 2012’s picks, click here). You can join the group’s mailing list now to sign up to be a giver in 2013.

Reading is Fundamental (http://www.rif.org/)

Reading is Fundamental is the nation’s largest literacy nonprofit group. The organization maintains a list of 400,000 volunteers across America to help deliver books and literary resources to families and communities that need them the most. The group’s highest priority is children from birth through the age of eight. According to RIF, nearly two-thirds of low-income families own zero books. Help change that statistic by volunteering for or donating to Reading is Fundamental.

Family Reading Partnership (http://www.familyreading.org/)

The Family Reading Partnership is a great example of a community-focused literacy nonprofit. Based in Ithaca, NY, the Family Reading Partnership promotes early literacy and group family reading. They have a number of ongoing projects, including Books Before Birth, in which expecting parents receive children’s books at prenatal visits to their doctors, the Bright Red Bookshelf, a collection of gently used books for free throughout the community, a fun and free annual Kid’s Book Fest, and a Story Walk 1k for parents and kids. You can support this great organization through a donation.

Inside Books Project (http://insidebooksproject.org/)

Located here in Austin, TX, the Inside Books Project is an all-volunteer organization that sends free books and educational resources to men and women incarcerated in the Texas Prison System. The IBP is the only organization of its kind in our state and they receive more than eight-hundred requests for books from Texas prisoners each month. Volunteer nights are currently held every Thursday and Sunday at Space 12. You can check out their volunteer page for more information. 

Hopefully these great organizations inspired you as much as they inspire us to dedicate some extra time to helping our local, national, and international communities. Let us know of any organizations you love to volunteer with in the comments below!

I’ll premise this post with a caveat: I have a natural predilection for reading. I have never not been a reader. And I’m also a brutal reader. I read in swift, short strokes, page conquering, digging for humor and drama and eccentricity and meaning, and if I don’t find it, I’m an unforgiving critic. On the other hand, books I love make me glow, and babble with enthusiasm at anyone who will listen.

I’ve come to expect a certain something from books. I read them because I want to look beyond the confines of my life and my psyche. I can be somewhat of an escapist fanatic, and books are my fix. It comes as no surprise that despite my increasingly busy schedule in a post-college world, I have found time for more pleasure reading than I ever did during my college years. I graduated and began looking for work in the midst of a growing economic recession, and my outlook tumbled back and forth between hopeful enthusiasm and dark depression. Few things provide a more immediate cure for the latter than a good book.

The National Endowment of the Arts has reported that the percentage of adult Americans reading has increased from 47% to 50% as of 2008, the first increase in the over two and a half decades since the NEA began its survey of adult literacy. That being said, the American public still by and large does not read nearly enough (half of all adults reading means that the other half of adults aren’t reading). And in times such as these, there are five reasons they should:

1. Reading Enlightens & Stimulates Your Mind. Pick a topic, any topic. There is a book out there about it. Regardless of genre, you are discovering something new, different, strange, interesting—be it a technique to save money, every yoga position that has ever existed, how to build a treehouse, or what it means to be a Wiccan. Reading also challenges you to think, to be actively engaged and to process information. It is learning, regardless of whether you are flipping through War and Peace or a Biology textbook or a Harlequin romance or a comic book. People have sometimes asked me why I am “smart.” It’s not because of an extremely high IQ or because I’m a prodigy. It’s because I read. A lot.
2. Reading is Therapeutic. “Curling up with a good book” (books on e-readers and laptops most definitely included!) can be the epitome of rest and relaxation in what has become an increasingly hectic modern life. Reading lets you shut out the rest of the world and focus only on what is in front of you: an engaging story. I prefer sitting in a corner of the couch with a hot cup of tea and my cat at my side, but that’s me. There is much to be said for an evening of reading versus an evening of grim national news in bright red capital letters on CNN. We know things are bad. The question is, what can we do for ourselves to stay focused, healthy, and positive?
3. Reading Saves Money. Think of the purchases that modern Americans make to entertain themselves, and how much it costs them to do so. Video games. DVDs. Movie tickets. Eating out. Or… books. My sister bought me a 400-page, $7.99 fiction paperback for my birthday. At an average of 1 page a minute, that’s over six hours of entertainment. The vast majority of books aren’t expensive, make great gifts to others or to yourself, and are recyclable (err, re-readable). Plus you can always check out books at the library for that magic word: free. The New York Times reports that even through a recession, book sales in Europe continue to grow. Shouldn’t it be the same here?
4. Reading Supports the Arts & Education. You don’t have to be a patron for a famous museum to support the arts or donate millions to a school to support education. Buy a book (or ten, or a hundred, or a thousand), and you support not only the author, but the bookstore, the publisher, the agent—every member of the industry that works to bring you more books, including those written specifically for education and those read by people of all ages to increase their knowledge. The more you read, the more opportunities you are presenting for writers to create new works for you. It’s a cyclical process. The same applies for reading to children and having your teens read. They learn, they share what they learn, they encourage others to do the same, and pass on said traits when they become well-educated adults.
5. Reading is Cool. No, seriously. As a culture we have become more accepting of nerdy, geeky, and intellectual pastimes. (Think Internet-surfing, blog-writing, videogame-playing, comic books, and the like). Reading is the penultimate expression of your interest in the new and unknown, in learning and discovering, in fantasizing and dreaming. When I was younger, toting a book in my oversized purse whenever I went out was the cause of much laughter among my friends. Now people scroll through books on their cellphones, no matter where they are. Reading evolves with us, and stays with us.

If you have any reasons we (should) read, comment and let us know!