Community & Literacy Partnerships
Making a Difference, One Story at a Time
We believe that the kindness, empathy, and curiosity we celebrate in our books should be reflected in the way we show up in the world. Across the globe, our community of parents, educators, librarians, booksellers, storytellers, and artists is working to expand access to inclusive stories—helping children see themselves, connect with others, and imagine a brighter future. Together, we’re turning the power of books into real-world change.
Reach Out and Read National
We have been selected as a preferred vendor for Reach Out and Read National, the program that promotes early literacy and strengthens child-caregiver bonds by making reading aloud a meaningful part of everyday life for families from birth to age five. Reach Out and Read integrates books and shared reading into the pediatric care model, as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Through this partnership, Barefoot’s culturally reflective and bilingual titles will now be available to Reach Out and Read’s network of more than 6,500 program sites across all 50 states, where 39,000 medical providers prescribe books and shared reading as part of routine pediatric care.
Reach Out and Read of Greater New York
We were able to assist in the equitable distribution of books to those who need it most made providing over half a million Barefoot Books to their Book Buddies initiative. Through this initiative, RoR partners with other regional literacy organizations to obtain excellent, new, DEI-relevant titles for program recipients. Many of the books include text in English and Spanish, and increase access by offering audio and visual components for additional learning formats. Read the press release here. We are also proud to be RoRNY's Publisher Sponsor from 2022 - 2025.
First Book
We are engaged in a long-term parternship with First Book to get meaningful books into the hands of all children through their Community of educators and professionals who serve kids in low-income communities. Most recently we've partnered to increase our title collections, including our new Barefoot Bilinguals on the First Book Marketplace.
Diverse Books for All Coalition
From over 40 submissions across the US, we are one of four publishers selected to partner with the Diverse Books for All Coalition, a national consortium of nonprofits and membership organizations working together to increase access to affordable, high-quality children’s books by and about diverse races, cultures, identities, and abilities. Through its Commitment to Action, the Coalition will aggregate its collective market power to purchase and distribute 600,000 diverse books over the next 18 months. Read the press release here.
Reading is Fundamental
We continue to support RIF's supply of libraries to under-served schools distributing 294,000 books (132K in 2024, 162K in 2025) in partnership with their donation partners.
Raising A Reader
Home literacy routines promote healthy brain development, family bonding and increased literacy skills — all proven elements for lifetime success! That’s why we have partnered with Raising A Reader, a national leader in early literacy and family engagement, to bring 30,000 bilingual Spanish books to readers via their programs.
Ready, Set, Read
We have worked with Ready, Set, Read to distribute 21,200 books to the 90+ schools who participate in their program. We have plans to distribute over another 20,000 books in 2026.
Room to Read
Working together, we have distributed 12,000 books in bilingual Haitian-Creole and bilingual Spanish.
Heart of America
"Over the last year, we have had the privilege of supporting more than 70,000 students with thousands of new, high-quality, culturally relevant books, technology, and transformed spaces. This work would not be possible without the services your team has provided in recent years." -- Allie Plihal, Director, Resource Distribution & Logistics, The Heart of America Foundation®
In August of 2021, we supplied 1000 hardcover books for DC-metro area kids, through the Washington Football Team and Heart of America Foundation for a back-to-school event. Most recently, we have worked together to distribute 5,000 books in bilingual Navajo to Navajo Nation families.
BookTrust UK
In January 2020, we partnered with BookTrust to bring 600,000 copies of Baby Play to every baby in England and Wales via the annual Bookstart Baby packs. Bookstart is the world’s first national bookgifting and has been supporting a love of reading and the development of a reading habit from an early age for over 25 years.
Books For Africa
Supporting literacy has always been a very important part of our mission at Barefoot Books. In 2019, it was our privilege and an to partner with Books For Africa and COVida to distribute 300,000 books into the hands of orphans and vulnerable children affected by AIDS in Mozambique. We are currently working on a new initiative to translate 70,000 of our books into French and Malagasy to distribute in Madagascar.
Photo credit FHI360 COVida
Donations
We donate to the First Book National Book Bank in support of literacy organizations throughout the US.
