Those of us who blog in the kidlitosphere can accomplish a lot when we pull together. Need proof? Just check out the status of Greg Pincus’s Kickstarter project, Poetry: Spread the Word–there are still 5 days to go on the project, and not only is it fully funded, it’s OVERFUNDED. As of the writing of this post, he’s got $5,870 in pledges, $870 more than his stated goal of $5,000. All the extra funds go towards additional school visits at no cost to schools, helping Greg bring poetry into classrooms and write original work to be made freely available, all over the course of the next year. In this time of dwindling funds for arts education, that’s something to celebrate.
If you want to help, there’s still time to contribute–or, if you fancy buying a book instead (or in addition!), why not contribute to this year’s Guys Lit Wire Book Fair? It’s only been going for a few days, but 150 books have already been bought and sent to Ballou Sr. High School in Washington, D.C.–including Tanita’s A La Carte and my own The Latte Rebellion, which makes us jump up and down just a little. 🙂 As usual, I’m waiting a bit to make my purchases, but this is such a worthy endeavor, and for the past couple of years GLW has massively augmented some really needy school libraries.
It’s efforts like these–and the enthusiasm of people stepping up to get involved–that makes me feel like people truly do still value literature and arts in their children’s schools, and are willing to go the extra mile to make sure kids and teens have access to such important aspects of the human experience as poetry, art, and stories. And it reminds me why I love being part of the kidlitosphere.
