You Matter Nashville

Book'em with Melissa Spradlin

• Jason and Mindy Hoover • Episode 26

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In this inspiring episode of You Matter Nashville, we sat down with Melissa Spradlin, executive director of Book’em, a nonprofit dedicated to boosting children's literacy in Nashville since 1989. Melissa shared her journey from growing up with educator parents to finding her passion for literacy and community service. She gave us a look inside Book’em’s mission of getting books into kids' hands and fostering a love of reading through volunteers who serve as reading role models.

We also talked about the challenges nonprofits face—like limited space and funding—and how the community continues to step up through book drives, donations, and even a donated bus that now acts as a mobile library. Melissa’s vision for the future is bold: more books, more volunteers, and more impact. Whether you donate, volunteer, or spread the word, every effort helps inspire the next generation of readers.

Takeaway:

  • Book’em has been promoting children's literacy in Nashville for over 35 years.
  • Melissa’s personal story reflects a deep-rooted love for education and community impact.
  • Volunteers are at the heart of their mission, reading to classrooms and inspiring young readers.
  • Book donations come from everywhere—individuals, schools, businesses, and even big publishers.
  • Their mobile book bus is a creative way to bring books directly to the community!
  • Fundraising and space constraints are big challenges, but the passion for literacy keeps them moving forward.
  • Book’em’s annual fundraiser breakfast is coming up in September—an easy, inspiring way to get involved.
  • Donating books or money (even small amounts) makes a huge difference—just $2.50 can provide a book!
  • Volunteers can also help by sorting books or delivering them to schools.


Book'em
https://bookem-kids.org/

You Matter Nashville YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/@YouMatterNashville

The Hoover Team
https://www.thehooverteam.com/

(00:00.108)

Hey, Nashvilleans, welcome to the You Matter Nashville podcast, the place where every story we share is a celebration of you, the heartbeat of our community. I'm Jason Hoover, delighted to be one half of your hosting duo.

 

And I'm Mindy Hoover, joining you alongside Jason to bring you the stories of inspiring individuals and unsung heroes making a positive impact right here in our hometown.

 

Every episode is about passions, dreams, and actions that stitch together the Middle Tennessee community.

 

So if you're looking to get inspired by the good happening around us, or if you want to hear from the change makers who believe, just like us, that you matter, then hit that follow button on your favorite podcast platform.

 

And if you are looking to make a move in the middle Tennessee area, Mindy and I are real estate professionals and would be honored to serve you with excellence.

 

(00:45.194)

Now, let's dive into another episode of You Matter Nashville.

 

Welcome to the You Matter Nashville podcast, where we celebrate the individuals and organizations making a positive impact in our community. Today, we're honored to have Melissa Spradlin with us. She is the executive director of the nonprofit Book’em. Since 1989, Book’em has been dedicated to promoting children's literacy in Nashville by providing books and reading role models to children in need. Melissa, thank you for being here.

 

Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure.

 

So Melissa, why don't you kick us off by sharing what drew you to Book’em and what actually fuels your passion for children's literacy?

 

Wow. So I grew up the daughter of two educators. My dad was an assistant principal at a high school. My mom was a teacher in middle, junior high is what it was called at the time, and then high school. And they just really stoked my love of learning.

 

(02:04.25)

but especially of reading. I have great memories of reading as a child, all kinds of books. They really encouraged that I got to go to the bookmobile and borrow books and...

 

The bookmobile, forgot about that.

 

Yeah, I know. So, you know, that really centered me around the importance of education. But I knew I didn't want to be a teacher, because teaching is really hard. You know, know, Mindy. And so I found

 

years.

 

Speaker 1 (02:53.11)

position with the Waco Independent School District that was with community and school partnerships and loved that. I loved not being in the classroom, but knowing that we were making a difference. When we moved to Nashville many years, quite a few years later, I ended up at the Tennessean, the daily morning newspaper.

 

and I managed their educational services. So that meant I got to work with teachers and educators and people who really loved making sure that our kids had what they needed, especially around literacy with newspaper and education and the regional spelling bee and all the fun educational things we got to do. And again,

 

So very, very blessed that I found kind of what my passion was and that they took a chance on hiring me at the time. And in that position, I got to work with Book’em and with Book’em Read Me Day celebration and just loved what the organization did. I was like, there's nothing better than giving books to kids.

 

That's like the best thing in the world as far as I'm concerned. And so when I found out that the executive director, who was also one of the founders, was retiring, I put my name in the hat and was fortunate enough that again, it took a chance on me and was hired in 2008. And I've been here ever since. And I...

 

You know, I want everyone to be able to find their passion, whatever it may be, and to be able to make a living at it. I don't make a great living, but I am paid for what I do. And I'm very, I count my blessings because I know that's not true for everyone out in community. We need people to do their jobs. Thank you to everyone who does.

 

Speaker 1 (05:20.846)

But I'm one of those lucky ones that I actually love what I do.

 

Well, that's wealth right there. So I know we've all had those jobs that we really did not appreciate as much. you started in 08, so that's 17 years. you'd seen a lot change since then.

 

Yeah, it is.

 

(05:48.974)

So the, own, when was a book established?

 

So Book’emwas founded 36 years ago. And so I'm only the second executive director that Book’emhas ever had. it started in 2008 when the recession, I mean, I felt for so many people, that was a really, really rough time. I'm proud that Book’em survived.

 

It wasn't necessarily because of me, because I was new. I didn't know what I was doing. I learned a lot. And there were so many people in the community who helped. People still gave money. People still donated books. We were homeless for a little while or unhoused for a little while as an organization.

 

Other nonprofits took us in and helped us get back on our feet as far as, you know, where can we live basically as an organization? And so, I mean, I think that's indicative of the work that we do and the community that we work with that people care. Yes. Which is great. People are willing to give even when it's tough sometimes.

 

And especially in the nonprofit world, we lean on each other. We support each other and we're willing to let somebody move in for a little while if we need to. And I have found that that has been so refreshing to see that kind of support from the community.

 

Speaker 1 (07:47.5)

They really do rally around good causes.

 

I agree. And we see a lot of the nonprofits really coming together and just working with each other. Cause I think all the nonprofits want to see each other succeed and coexist because you're all there to do something positive for the community. So nobody wants one or another to fall away. Now, Book’emis as an organization, like

 

You are really there to promote just the enthusiasm and the love of books and reading to get kids engaged. And but how how are you guys doing that in the community? What ways are you getting this done?

 

So, book home, you put it so well. We are about that love of reading, that enthusiasm for reading, that motivation for reading. We need great teachers in every classroom who know how to teach our children how to read, who have their own love for reading and enthusiasm for reading and are doing a great job. It's not easy, but that's not enough.

 

I mean, we need our young people to have access to books that they pick out for themselves, that they want to read, and that they will read. If we want our kids to get better at reading, it's like anything. You have to practice. Well, if you don't have access to books to read, especially books that you want to read, you don't have as much opportunity.

 

Speaker 1 (09:25.292)

to do that practicing. But we want them to practice because they want to. We want them to read because they're motivated, because they found that book that just, they're like, I've got to read it. You know, it looks great. I want to know more about whatever the book is about. And that's when we know that our young people

 

are gonna be okay when it comes to reading because they are motivated to do the work and to continue on. And so that's part of what we do is we collect books from the community. We get books from publishers, we get books from bookstores, from people that are just cleaning out, you know, they're like these books are in great shape but

 

but they're the ones that we can pay it forward, pass it on. They donate those to us, groups, companies, schools do book drives, donate books to us. We got a donation of like 2,500 books today from Ingram Content Group. They did a book drive. We bought another several thousand books through a donation from a local company.

 

SSR, which is an engineering firm. mean, this is a cause that everybody can rally around because books, I mean, we need books. We need books in our lives. Our kids need books. And so it's really, really basic. I mean, intrinsically, we know books are good for kids. It's good for kids to read.

 

Right.

 

(11:17.142)

Yes. And they need to be recycled. You you're not going to, most people aren't going to read a book 20 times unless you're of my kids, you know, in a kid's book. But, you know, just being able to recycle, especially for those preteen books where most of the time they only read them like maybe once, you know, having those to recycle and give to the next person. It's such a gift.

 

Yeah, and that's big part of what we do. The other piece of what we do is we provide breeding role models. So we have volunteers from all walks of life who have a little bit of time that they can devote to give back to the community. They get assigned to an elementary classroom. They work with that teacher to set up a schedule to go visit that classroom five times a year.

 

They spend about 30 minutes with those students. They are reading aloud with the class. They're asking questions. They're answering questions, engaging with these students. And like the second time they come back, the kids are so excited. It's amazing what such a small gift does. I mean, these kids are like, you came back and what did you, what are we going to read? And did you bring

 

whatever book it is that they wanted you to bring this time because they get to pick out books to take home at the end of each visit. And these are just, I mean, these are normal people. People who just love to read, have a little bit of time, are willing to go through the process of applying and doing the background check and the orientation and showing up for these kids who love, love, love.

 

having that volunteer in their classroom.

 

(13:09.934)

So your office or the place that you're at, is that a place where people or these kids can come to? Or do the volunteers and you guys go out to the schools?

 

So at this point, we not able to provide books to individuals. We depend on about 150 partners in Davidson County who actually request books from us and then they come pick them up. We pack them up based on what they're asking for. They come pick them up and then they distribute the books.

 

It may be a school. It could be like a preschool or a child development center. It could be a high school or anything in between. It could be an after school program or a summer program. It could be a church. mean, anybody, other nonprofits get books from us. Habitat for Humanity was here today picking up books. I mean, it is a community wide effort. Book Home could not do this work without

 

all of those partners, the people who donate books, the volunteers that go read, the volunteers who come and sort books with us, the people who support us financially. None of that happens without people in the community who are like, I believe in this. I know it's important for our kids to read and to like books and to have books. I can do a little bit. And so that's really how it works.

 

We have a bus now. That is cool. Parnassus Books donated a bus to us. Yes, it's so cool. I can't take a lot of credit because somebody else did all the work on it, but I said yes to the bus.

 

(14:55.117)

Okay.

 

(15:14.078)

You let it happen.

 

So the bus goes to schools, it goes to events in the community, wherever it's needed. And there are all kinds of books on the bus. People get on the bus, they find books that they want to take home, they take the books home. And again, it's just another way for us to get young people excited and

 

to help families understand how important it is to be reading, and to give access to books that, quite frankly, a lot of our families don't have the ability to go out and buy books for their children.

 

They're expensive. mean, even a child's book, can be $15 to $30. So it can add up. I grew up in a community that was small town poor. There was no bookstore for probably a 45-minute radius from where we lived. There was no online back then to get books. it was, I mean, if Walmart carried it, then

 

you could get a book and that's about the only place you could even find a book when I was young. But I remember like when Scholastic or organizations would come and we'd get to get a book and I mean, I was probably third or fourth grade and I picked up my first novel chapter book, you know, novel is it was actually one of the juvenile Stephen King books. And my teacher's like, Are you sure you want that one? I'm like, I love dragons.

 

(16:59.064)

But he only wrote a few of the juvenile books, but I got it and I loved it. Eyes of the Dragon, it's on the shelf at the house. And I loved it. And that is really what got me into reading and was that book of all things from a little fair. But if it wasn't for these little companies or these little things coming into these small towns, there's really no other way unless the

 

Do you

 

(17:28.27)

parents have money and they can go out and buy them these things. So I know my mother was a very dramatic reader when I was small and we get the books and did all the voices and all the things. And I just could not wait to do that with my own kids. And every night probably until they were eight or nine, I mean, maybe even 10, I don't know. Maybe COVID killed it. I don't know.

 

I read every night to the kids and it was just a ritual even when they were too old and they could read themselves. just something about that time of reading a book, saying the prayers and going to bed. part of that little ritual that we do. And not all kids are fortunate to have that little ritual, but what a blessing it was growing up and having that and then being able to share that with my kids, you know. And it was funny when we were, time to put all those kids.

 

books away. I'm like, pick out which ones you want to save. And it was like all of them. I have tubs. So I'm like, all right, when I have grandkids, I want to have this huge tub. But it's good to know they are very heavy, by the way. Just so you know. it is so good to know though, for the ones that you don't want to keep for the next generation, that there is actually a place though that we can bring them.

 

Those totes are heavy.

 

(18:49.442)

That's pretty incredible. So if somebody wants to give their books, do they contact book them? They go on the website, find a drop off location. How do they get the books to you?

 

So if people want to donate books, which we love, they should go to our website www.focom-kids.org and go to our donation page, donate books, and there are instructions there on the kind of books that we take.

 

and how to drop them off. We do ask for people to make an appointment and to bring them to us. know, the dream is eventually we have a truck and we can go pick up the books, but we're not there yet. And we're a small staff. We don't always have people here. So it really is helpful if people go to the website, make an appointment before you just come by.

 

to drop off the books, but that's the process. we take books that are in good condition. mean, that's really important to us because we know some of these students, they get a lot of hand-me-downs and there's nothing wrong with hand-me-downs, but we all know that a book that is like new

 

that it just has a special quality that makes that child feel like, this is just for me. You know, and there's just a difference. And that's part of the magic of what we do is that element. So we like books that are in great condition, ages zero to 18. So that covers a lot of books. You know, we have young adult books too for those, you know, juniors and seniors in high school.

 

Speaker 1 (20:56.942)

We do actually take some books for adults because we know that a lot of the groups that we're working with that they're actually serving whole families. So they will sometimes request books for the adults, you know, for mom and dad or whoever is living in the household in some of these cases. So yeah, it's a pretty easy process. And like I said, it doesn't happen without people that

 

are willing to pass on books. And honestly, we take new books as well. So if people are like, I'm going to buy a couple because I'm at the bookstore or, you know, wherever they get books. You know, great. You know, buy some of your favorites or find a new title or two that you haven't read yet and serve new books coming out all the time that

 

are amazing and fun to read. I think picture books are for everybody.

 

yes. Now do you guys have an Amazon store or anything where people can just buy books that you're needing?

 

Yes, if people go on our website, they can go to donate books again, same place. And actually our Amazon wishlist is loaded there. so you can go and we change it periodically. Hopefully people will find books that really resonate with them or that they're like, I think a kid would like to read that book. I'm going to buy that one. And they come directly to us. So super simple.

 

Speaker 1 (22:41.27)

Yeah, we do ask if you you know if possible include your name or organization or whatever because we do like to thank people for their their gifts it does mean a lot and then we have people who also Donate money. You know, some people are like, well, I don't really know what you need I don't really I don't want to buy it from Amazon or whatever the case may be and

 

actually we can make a small donation go long way. When we purchase books, we're audited every year as we should be as a nonprofit. And we have kind of an average book price for books that we purchase directly. And it's like $2.50 per book. So we're able to take that, you know, small donation

 

That's great.

 

Speaker 1 (23:39.128)

from somebody and actually serve several kids with it. So I've purchased several books as opposed to one. Like you said, books can be very expensive. And we're fortunate that we have that experience. We have vendors that we go to that we know we can get great prices. We get free shipping a lot of times. We're not paying tax. mean, we're levering.

 

leveraging all of the things so that we can make our money go really far.

 

So giving you guys a donation could actually potentially buy three or four or even five books to what me going on your list and buying one for.

 

Right, but we like both. Right. we know that...

 

But I'm just making that point for you, you know.

 

Speaker 1 (24:31.202)

You're right, you're right.

 

So do you remember your first chapter book?

 

No, I mean, I have so many favorites. I was such an introvert. I was that awkward kid. gosh. I look at me now and I'm like, I turned out okay. But I loved so many books. I loved the Mouse and the Motorcycle series with Beverly Cleary books. I loved Little House on the Prairie.

 

I loved Nancy Drew. I they were just, I loved almost all books. Secret Garden was one of my favorites growing up. you know, I have great memories of books and hopefully, mean, truly we hope that all people have great memories of books from their childhood and that we are creating that now.

 

for this generation so that when they become parents, they are instilling that love of reading with their own kids. Right. Yeah. Because books do so many things for us. mean, yes, they are fun to read sometimes. Sometimes they make us cry. Maybe that's what you need. Maybe you just need a good cry. Maybe you need to read about somebody who is

 

Speaker 1 (26:04.778)

in a totally different galaxy for you that, you know, is fictional and you just want to escape from reality. Maybe you need a little reality and not to feel alone, you know, to see, well, gosh, I can relate to that character and what they're going through because I'm dealing with some of that.

 

And books educate us, of course. I mean, they inform us and educate us, but they make us laugh and cry and build empathy, which we think is really important. Yeah, I agree. You know, we need to care about each other. And that's something that research shows books help with. So there's so many benefits to what we read.

 

Jason and I have completely different reading tastes. mean, and if I can't read it, I have an audio book in my ear, probably 75 % of my life. it's- Maybe. I love stories. It's either music or a book, but most of time it's a book. But I have goals every year for my reading and I'm way too competitive. I usually break it by like August, June.

 

Maybe. Can I get a 90?

 

(27:23.822)

May, maybe, but I just love it. historical fiction, I love historical fiction. There's a few local authors that I've read everything they have. I love them. But fantasy reading, I love New Worlds. Just how creative these people are. just awes me that they are able to not just write a story about a place we know, but literally build languages. And I don't know, just completely bewilders me how they can do that.

 

I love it. I know Jason is a huge believer in business books.

 

self help.

 

Go South Hill.

 

So we're in a different arena.

 

(28:04.398)

can't, and that's, uh, you know, one of the things is I've always struggled with the, the fiction books. Um, I don't know. It's because it's like, okay, okay, okay. I like it. And I can definitely see how that would be, you know, engulfing and really draw you in, but it's just, it doesn't seem to me, you know, the self help. I'm a very task person. I'm a, you know, I'm a DC as far as a dis person. So I'm, I,

 

I like to go, oh wow, that's good. I'm going to write that down and put that into play. So yeah, we both read, but we both have very different tastes.

 

Yeah. now Cohen and I are reading, we've both read Harry Potter, but we're reading it together this year. And, know, and I'm sitting here going, all right, Cohen, I've already finished this book, you need to hurry. he's like, because the deal is we don't start the next one until the other one finishes. And I'm like, mine a week ago, Cohen, come on, the last three books are really long. Got to keep going.

 

That's great. And that's part of the beauty of how we operate with providing choice, because we know different people like different things. you know, that element of always making sure that we have all kinds of books so that every person, child, young person can find something that just really resonates with them.

 

So do you have, you know, we have a lot of authors here. Do they donate to you guys?

 

Speaker 1 (29:36.526)

Yeah, it's interesting. Our local authors, publishers, book distributors, bookstores, they're all very, very supportive. Oh, great. They donate when they can. You know, it's interesting with authors and illustrators, you know, I've had, there was a little bit of a learning curve for me because I was like, oh, well, of course you can donate books. I mean, they're your books, right? And they're like, well.

 

you know, I get a few that are like mine and then I have to pay for more and I'm like, what? That's not fair. But, you know, but you know, some of the bookstores do book drives for us. And like they'll let us actually like especially Parnassus, they'll let us like pick out books to showcase. Okay. And they'll like put them right by the checkout counter.

 

What?

 

Speaker 1 (30:33.324)

Be like here, you want to buy a book for book home for summer reading or for the winter holidays? great. And y'all Ingram content group, you know, book distributor there, they did a book drive internally with their employees. Same thing with Amazon. We have Amazon, they do book drives for us as to several other companies. so the publishing world is very supportive.

 

for it.

 

Speaker 1 (31:01.518)

And we appreciate that. They get called on to do all kinds of things, like every business out there it seems. But we appreciate what they do because it really does make a difference.

 

So I know, you know, dairy nonprofit, you know, always have challenges. And so we like to ask that question every time, you know, people that we interview, what are some of the challenges that you face in promoting literacy here in our community?

 

So I would say right now for us as an organization, it's more around constraints that are challenges. So right now, we are fortunate. We have grown from basically one and a half employees to three full-time employees and six part-time employees.

 

So that's pretty big growth and we've been able to add volunteers and give away more books over the years.

 

Fundraising is always hard. mean, you know, businesses know that, even everybody knows that, you know, money is tough. So we always are looking, you know, how do we do a better job of raising money? How do we raise awareness? How do we let people know that, you know, we are responsible, you know, that we take...

 

Speaker 1 (32:44.588)

We take our role as a public benefit organization very seriously. We are very lean. We don't spend money if we don't have to, because we're like, that money needs to go to books if that's what we need. And I think that's true of a lot of nonprofits. We try to be really committed to the mission and doing it as effectively as we can and as efficiently.

 

as we can. There's a human face to what we do when we have to say no, because we don't have enough books. It's really, really hard when we have to say, we can't serve your school yet, because we don't have enough money to provide the volunteers. It's really hard. So, you know, one of the keys is just raising the money.

 

That's just part of it. We have staff that need to be paid. They don't make a lot of money. I need to work on that. It's like, would be nice if we could pay a living wage for our employees so that they could afford to live in Davidson County or the area. Two or three jobs, you know? But right now we are

 

It's getting tougher and

 

not working.

 

Speaker 1 (34:13.826)

We don't have enough space. mean, honestly, that is one of our biggest challenges right now. We love where we are. Our landlord is great. I mean, it really is. It's very economical. It's been wonderful. They don't have any more space to let us lease. So we need to move. And moving in the current economy is really going to be a challenge. We're looking at some

 

possibilities that we actually think will work. And I love the fact that that allows us to dream. Because there's so much more that we need to do. There's still so many families and households who don't have enough books. I mean, wouldn't it be great if every year we could make sure that every household got 10 to 12 books that they picked out?

 

for their families and that we could deliver the books and pick up the books and that we could not, we didn't have to say no. That we could take the big publisher donated books that where you can get 10,000 books of one title at one time. But I can't store those right now and you can't give them all away at one time either.

 

But that's the dream, having a place where families can come and they can go in the used book room and just pick out as many books as they want and being able to collaborate with even more partners in the community and having larger volunteer groups come and help us. There's just so many exciting things that we can do. And working in concert with

 

other literacy minded entities. You know, so that we can fill this need. Okay, you fill this need. You tackle this piece of it. You know, let's make sure that the school system has what they need so that teachers can teach well. You know, that they really can teach reading. Let's make sure our child development centers have books that they need for their littles.

 

Speaker 1 (36:41.698)

let's make sure that the high school kids are actually seeing how important reading is even as adults. We can work together and improve literacy across the county. Because we all know that if you can read well, your choices in life change.

 

You have a lot of positive choices in life. If you can't read well, your choices are limited. You're going to have much harder time supporting a family, getting a job, especially a job that you like, a job that will support your family.

 

And it's the basis of all your other studies. mean, yeah, I mean, I know that's some of the biggest complaints and, know, in education right now is we can't get these kids on a current reading level, like a grade level reading level. If they can't read their grade level, how are they reading their science? How are they reading their math questions? It's impossible. So it's just a steadily lagging behind because the concept is never really, you know, unless they hold them back a year.

 

You know, it's a vicious cycle.

 

But we can change that. And we're working on it.

 

(38:03.266)

We can change that. Now all of this takes money, like you said, and every year you guys have a really big event that you do. And I would love for you to talk about your annual fundraiser that you were having in September.

 

Yeah, we do one big fundraising event each year. For us it's big compared to other nonprofits. It's small, to be honest. We'll have about 200 people at our little event. Well, you've been to the events at the convention center, right? Where's the whole huge ballroom?

 

That's

 

Speaker 1 (38:48.046)

It's not us yet.

 

Yet. Not yet.

 

But yeah, we'll have a breakfast. We're gonna be at 10, 1410 Little Place, a great venue for events over in the nations on September 30th. The event is a breakfast. We get people in, we get them out. Most people are heading off to work. So it's a quick event.

 

We have a great breakfast. We have a wonderful program with some special speakers highlighting some of the work that we're doing and the impact that we're having, and the difference that people are making because they're coming alongside Bookome and helping us do that work. So we have sponsors for the event. Our sponsorships are not real high, high, high, high dollar.

 

Um, you know, so it's a nice entry point for a lot of businesses. If they are like, Oh, well I can do a $2,000 sponsorship. can't do a $20,000 sponsorship. Um, and we have a great morning. Um, and the event itself is free. We ask people to make a minimum donation, usually around $150.

 

Speaker 1 (40:15.182)

some people can't do $150. That's okay. We have people that we serve. We have some of our partners that come and we're like, just come have a good breakfast and enjoy it. And then we have other people who can do a lot more, you know, and everything in between. Our board is very, very involved. I'm very lucky as an executive director to have a board of directors who care.

 

committed to the mission. And it's about the mission. It's not necessarily about book on, but it's about what we can do as an organization to improve literacy in our community. They show up, they give their time, their money, their expertise. So it's just a fun morning. You head off to work and you're like, wow, I just feel so good about.

 

you know, being part of this. So that's our big thing. We do a Read Me Day celebration, which is about celebrating reading in elementary schools. That usually happens in February. We have the bus going out. We have bus sponsorships available. have reading as fundamental classrooms that people can adopt and to sponsor a class so that they get books.

 

five times a year, they get their volunteer reader. We have companies who do that and their employees are the volunteers. Lots of different ways that people can get involved. We try to meet people where they are, but also try to be realistic that we're not the best fit for everybody and that's okay. I tell people I'm like, there's a cause for everyone. Find your cause and give back to that cause and

 

You know, be a good volunteer, donate money if you can, donate in kind if you can, know, provide your expertise if that's something you have that they need. There's something for everybody.

 

(42:28.504)

For sure. So we've talked a lot about how people can donate books or money. So on the volunteering side, if somebody is interested in volunteering opportunities, can you share a little bit about that for us?

 

Yeah, again, you know, this all doesn't happen without volunteers. We have about 275 volunteers that read in our elementary classroom. Yeah, it's a lot. It's a lot. But it is so cool. I get to read. I'm a volunteer reader and I love it. just it reminds me of why we do what we do and how important it is.

 

That's a lot.

 

Speaker 1 (43:12.126)

People can go to our website again, go to the tab at the top that says volunteer. That will give you information about how to volunteer. Our volunteer interest form can be found there. Fill it out online. You submit it. We'll get in touch with you. I would say that if you're interested in reading, that summertime is the time to sign up because we run out of spots.

 

I we could serve more classrooms with volunteers if we had the money, but we don't have the money. I mean, we're serving a lot. We're serving 5,000 to 6,000 students every year. So it is a lot. And we're giving them 30,000 plus books a year. but the dream is let's do more. But if people want to read, sign up this summer or before then, you know, but summer is the time when we start.

 

with recruiting new volunteers. Most of our volunteers return are reading volunteers. So that's why there aren't as many slots. say 275 and I'm like, well, most of those are taken. But then we also have like volunteer groups, know, small groups that can come and help sort books.

 

That's good.

 

Speaker 1 (44:39.874)

That's a great way to volunteer. It can be on a once a year basis. I mean, or it can be more often if you want. Then we also occasionally need volunteers that can pick up books at our Reading is Fundamental book room and then deliver them to schools for the end of the school year. We always want to make sure that kids have books to take home for summer reading.

 

So that's something where we don't have that box truck and driver yet, so we have community volunteers who are like, yeah, I can pick up 10 boxes of books and deliver them to a school. And then there are other things we need. Some people have great skills. I'm pretty good at a lot of things. I'm not great at very many.

 

You know, I'm not a tech expert. I'm not an HR expert. I'm not a finance expert. mean, there's so many things that we do that we just figure it out. You know, it's like, we'll figure it out. It helps if there are people that have more expertise than me will say, I'd be glad to spend 30 minutes with you and just educate you about whatever it is.

 

I mean, I had a call the other day with a gentleman who is really knows cybersecurity. And I'm like, okay, I know it's something I need to know about. I know a little. Can you educate me a little bit more? And he spent 15 minutes with me just educating me a little bit more about cybersecurity, which is a real issue these days. You know, same thing like with insurance.

 

conversations with insurance agents about are we missing anything, you know?

 

(46:40.424)

Right. Right. Are we doing everything okay? Now with your volunteers that you have that come in, do you have like an age minimum? Like can teenagers come and help for their volunteer hours?

 

I know, I wish. mean, we have had some teenage groups, we have, think it's, we've had the University School of Nashville students have been here for a service day where it was kind of a school wide thing and we were one of many nonprofits. Same thing with East Nashville Magnet High School. They're be here in May. We can do it like that.

 

We can only handle about 10 volunteers at a time, which is not space. And the staff to manage the volunteers as well. So that again, one of those constraints that I'm like, hey, well, when we move, we'll be able to have bigger groups and we'll have more staff members to manage them.

 

those dreams is what pushes you forward for sure. So it's, what you do is amazing. I love everything that you guys stand for. And I love that you're just instilling joy in these, in these kids and, and teenagers and adults, you know, so it's most definitely needed. I love it. I love it. I love it.

 

Well, Melissa, well, thank you for taking time. Thank you for your dedication. mean, that's a long time that you've been there and that you're serving our kids. you know, there's no way to know the ripple effect that you've had on so many lives here. And so thank you for that. Thank you for your heart. Thank you for just loving on our community.

 

Speaker 1 (48:14.926)

Thank you so much.

 

Speaker 1 (48:36.622)

Well, thank you all. Thank you for sharing this time and using your platform to share good news.

 

Absolutely. All right. Well, that is all for today. Thank you, everybody, for listening. And those that are listening, if you'd like to support their work or even if you want to get involved as a volunteer, if they have an opening that comes up, but go ahead and put your name in the hat. Head over to their website. It's actually a nice website. I saw there's a little video on there. Even you were on it as well. That was what, 10 years ago?

 

But their website again, if you didn't catch it before, it's Book’em-kids.org. So that's B-O-O-K-E-M-K-I-D-S.ORG. And until next time Nashville, remember that your voice matters, your actions matter, and most importantly, your life matters. Thank you and God bless. And that brings us to the end of another episode of You Matter Nashville.

 

We hope today's show has left you feeling as uplifted and inspired as we are. Remember, the spirit of Nashville lives in all of us and every small act of kindness echoes throughout the community.

 

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(50:02.476)

And if you know anyone that is looking to make a move to Middle Tennessee area, we are real estate professionals known as the Hoover team, and we would be honored to serve them with excellence.

 

Until next time, keep making the difference Nashville. You matter more than you know.