The Results are in on the Indigo Love of Reading Campaign

Child reading stack of books

Every year, Indigo, Chapters, and Coles spend three weeks helping to fill school libraries with books.

Their massive annual undertaking, called the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation Adopt a School program, aims to fill the libraries of high-needs elementary schools with reading material. Anything that’s needed, from textbooks to non-fiction to novels. But it’s the fiction stuff that has us most excited, because (let’s be real) those are the books that make kids fall in love with reading. Think beloved, popular books that get them excited and, hopefully, turn them into life-long readers. Think: Harry Potter. Silverwing. Charlotte’s Web. Chronicles of Narnia. All of the Munsch. And so many more.

This year, between September 18 and October 9, the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation Adopt a School Program provided over 81,000 books to more than 500 Canadian elementary schools. Some were ‘adopted’ by their local Indigo, Chapters, or Coles store, and all schools had the opportunity to fundraise online at adoptaschool.indigo.ca. The stores that adopted schools in local communities across Canada donated 100% of the funds raised in-store to their chosen schools. And as the cherry on top, all schools also received a 30 percent discount to purchase books and educational resources when using these funds.

Additionally, this year the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation started the ‘Book Bonus’—a matching program for online donations. For every $20 donated to a school (equivalent value of two books), the Foundation donated a third book to that school for free.

The Foundation also encouraged communities to support literacy through non-monetary means with a ‘Tell a Story, Give a Story’ incentive, where supporters could share a short story on the online profile of a participating school. If that story was selected to be featured on the Adopt a School website, the Foundation donated a book to that school’s library for free. Hundreds of stories were shared by people of all ages across Canada, including stories about favourite books, librarians who made a difference, and how a love for books and reading has impacted their lives. They’re worth checking out.

Since the program began 7 years ago, the annual Adopt a School campaign has raised over $4.5 million to support more than 2,500 Canadian high-needs elementary schools. By providing over 400,000 books to-date, the campaign has impacted more than 800,000 students across the country.

400,000 books. We like to think that’s 400,000 times a kid was given the chance to fall in love with reading.

And we can’t wait to see what Indigo will do next year.

 

 

This post was brought to you by Indigo Love of Reading Foundation but the opinions are our own.

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17 Comments

  1. Sarah N on November 30, 2016 at 6:53 pm

    awesome – reading to our children is the best thing we can do

  2. Esther E on December 1, 2016 at 3:50 am

    Reading will provide lifelong entertainment!

  3. Diane Anderson on December 1, 2016 at 4:56 am

    Wonderful contest. everyone should read

  4. Diane Anderson on December 1, 2016 at 5:03 am

    Everyone should read.

  5. Anne Barbara on December 1, 2016 at 4:19 pm

    Food for the brain that we shouldn’t live with out.

  6. Aileen Chandler on December 2, 2016 at 11:24 pm

    What a wonderful contest. I would love to use these books with the children that I tutor.

  7. Serena Wray on December 2, 2016 at 11:57 pm

    Everyone should read

  8. J.N on December 3, 2016 at 12:47 am

    Great contest! You can never have too many books. I love the special time I have with my son while we read every night.

  9. M turner on December 3, 2016 at 4:42 am

    Books are fuel for both the mind and soul ,every child should have acsess to them

  10. Dian Anderson on December 3, 2016 at 6:07 am

    I would love to win this. A small school in a hamlet in Nunavut is trying to start a library. I would have these sent there if I won

  11. Shelley on December 3, 2016 at 9:31 pm

    My three grand babies would love to spend their time reading these awesome books instead of watching television.

  12. Amy Stackhouse on December 3, 2016 at 10:41 pm

    This would be such a wonderful prize for my family! My boys are five and six and they love books! They especially love NEW books 🙂

  13. JENNIFER AITKEN on December 7, 2016 at 7:14 pm

    reading is opertunaty

  14. Alina R. on December 8, 2016 at 6:26 pm

    Our whole family loves to read. This would be an incredible prize!

  15. delfina trevisan on December 9, 2016 at 5:40 am

    books are my sancutary

  16. Kate Niven on December 15, 2016 at 7:53 pm

    I would love to share these books with my home daycare. They love storytime, this would be wonderful.

  17. Marcella on December 17, 2016 at 11:39 pm

    Reading brings joy to children and adults alike. I’d love to win this prize to be able to share the wonder of reading with my niece and nephew. Thank you for such a wonderful contest!

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