Dear Open Books friends and family,

December is a time to celebrate the year gone by, and in all of Open Books' existence, there has truly never been a time when celebration was more appropriate. 2009 was a year of unbelievable highlights, and all of them were possible because of YOU.

With your help, the dream we've been working on for three years came true when we opened our bookstore and literacy center last month. With your help, we introduced two new programs: VWrite, for high school students, and WeWrite, for adults. With your help, we provided over 7,000 hours of reading to more than 400 Little Buddies around Chicago. With your help, 1,200 students became authors at our Adventures in Creative Writing field trips. With your help, we collected more than 120,000 used books whose sales help support our programs. With your help, we made new partnerships with literacy, corporate, and nonprofit groups across the city. And with your help, we furthered our mission of enhancing lives through reading, writing, and the INCREDIBLE power of used books.

As Open Books heads into 2010, we have even bigger dreams and goals. Making literacy a fun and fundamental part of life for students at every level continues to be our prime goal, passionate challenge, and daily motivation. With your help, we'll expand our programs, enrich our store, enhance our volunteer corps, and embrace the opportunity to make a creative, collaborative, critical difference for literacy in Chicago. We couldn't have done any of it without you, and we can't wait to work with you on all the wonders and challenges the new year will bring.

Thank you for everything, amazing Open Books supporters, and may 2010 bring you a thousand more reasons to celebrate along with us.

Literacy Landscape

Calling All Educators:
Sign up for programs in 2010!

We're thrilled to announce that, along with opening the doors on our bookstore, we have moved into our brand new literacy center! We want to fill our classrooms with eager readers and writers, and we need your help.  If you know any Chicago area teachers or administrators whose students could benefit from Open Books programs, we would love to meet them! Open Books has room in three of our programs for winter/spring 2010. Space is limited, so spread the word to teachers and administrators you know ASAP and have them contact us at literacy@open-books.org.

· Open Books Buddies reading mentor program (during or after school for 2nd grade+);

· VWrite college and career writing and mentoring (teens); and

· Adventures in Creative Writing field trips (4th-12th grades). NOTE:  With our new literacy center opening, we can handle two classes at a time starting in December. So sign up, fill up your school bus, and come on down for writing fun!
 
Summon The Leader Or Teacher Within!

Open Books has more classrooms now and that means we need more classes, workshops, and programs to serve the literacy mission. Are you an experienced educator or workshop leader? Could you volunteer to create and/or lead a literacy program for Open Books in 2010? The literacy department is open to ideas for classes and workshops that benefit adult learners, families, or youth. Find out the details!
 

Congratulations, writers! More than 30 adults and teens from all around Chicagoland wrote inspiring stories and poems last month during WeWrite workshops at Open Books. Check out photos and read their work on our blog!

The store is open:
10am - 7pm
Monday - Saturday

Our holiday schedule is:

December 24: 10am - 5pm
December 25: Closed
December 26 - 10am - 7pm
January 1 - 3: Closed

Regular business hours resume January 4, 2010.

 Investing In Literacy