Santa Barbara Education Foundation Gives 5,500 Books to Elementary School Students

Foundation’s Open Books Project Partners with Carpinteria Bookstore Owner to Strengthen Literacy in Community

Roosevelt Elementary School students with their new books | Credit: Santa Barbara Education Foundation

Children in the Santa Barbara Unified School District received 5,500 books in an act to further foster and strengthen literacy in the community.

The Santa Barbara Education Foundation (SBEF) in partnership with Louis Torres, founder of Lantern Tree Books in Carpinteria, distributed the books to students from kindergarten through 3rd grade, continuing the efforts of the district’s new literacy curriculum for the 2023-2024 fiscal year.

The SBEF accumulated more than $83,000 for the Open Books Project — the foundation’s initiative to get more books out to children in the district in order to improve literacy rates. Founded in 1985, the foundation promotes private support of Santa Barbara’s public education system, serving more than 12,500 students in 21 schools across the school district.

The Love of Literacy luncheon in September 2023 granted SBEF more than $49,000 in proceeds, as well as additional revenue from individual donors following the event, according to Melissa Davenport, development officer for SBEF.

Although not all proceeds for the project were used, the foundation is looking to invest the rest in community engagement for literacy, Davenport said.

SBEF Boardmember Dr. Donna Ronzone and Louis Torres of Lantern Tree Books | Credit: Santa Barbara Education Foundation

The Open Books Project launched at the beginning of this year, with the initial goal of raising enough money to provide 2,500 books, one for every young student. The project successfully fundraised enough to provide two books for each student, according to Pedro Paz, executive director of SBEF.

The first wave of book distribution occurred in March at McKinley Elementary School, and the last handouts in May at Roosevelt Elementary School.

“I didn’t even realize how rewarding it would be, handing books to kids,” Torres said, who attended the Roosevelt distribution.

Torres’s childhood was filled with all things literature. Born in Santa Barbara, Torres shared a special connection with the city and said he aims to join Santa Barbara’s Library Board.

The books were chosen from Torres’s Lantern Tree Books based on direct teacher requests, as well as the inclusion of multilingual works for further accessibility.

“I knew it would be a rewarding project, I love to read [and] to see kids read,” Torres said.