Approximately 34% of children in kindergarten through grade 11 in New Mexico read at or above their grade level, which means that 66% of them need to improve their reading skills. The children we serve require much more access to books and reading opportunities outside of school. BOOKKIDS is designed to provide free books to these children so that they can practice their reading skills during their out-of-school hours. – Bookkids Santa Fe 

Andel Trujillo, a former CIS Site Coordinator, shared the following: “BOOKKIDS was formed in 2017 by some community members and myself. We served Salazar Elementary the first year and have given over 30,000 books since we started. CIS was the fiscal sponsor the first year, and then BOOKKIDS received their 501c3 status.”

BOOKKIDS was back at Salazar this week, where students picked out their 5 books to take home. Several CISNM staff attended to help out. As our Volunteer Program Manager, Kate Mitchell, says, “Volunteering to help with the Salazar Elementary BOOKKIDS event was the highlight of my school year so far!  Watching these kids’ faces light up as they each chose 5 different books to take home truly brightened my day!”

“We are excited to bring the joy of reading to children through our events. By providing access to books we hope to ignite a love for reading in every child we reach.” – Andel Trujillo, Secretary, Bookkids Board of Directors

With Gratitude,
The CISNM Team