Children's creators, publishers, and booksellers looked for ways to bolster Los Angeles families, communities, and relief organizations after the wildfires of the past week, especially after digesting the news of schools destroyed in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena areas.
Only a few days into the crisis, two Angeleno friends and children's authors, Charlotte Offsay and Caroline L. Perry, decided to tap their literary network on behalf of relief organizations. Even as they hosted displaced friends in their homes and checked particulate counts from smoke before venturing outdoors, Offsay and Perry dreamed up Kidlit for Los Angeles, an online auction featuring donations from top authors, illustrators, editors, and agents, to be held January 20-29.
Offsay and Perry contacted illustrator Sydney Hanson, who is living in a temporary residence with her young family after evacuating her L.A. home. Hanson, despite working from an unfamiliar couch rather than her studio, eagerly volunteered to create the logo. Tara Luebbe and Jocelyn Rish, both based in South Carolina, also joined the auction planning team.
All five creators discovered that "having something productive to focus on" was an excellent coping strategy in a time of crisis, Perry said. They built a donation submission portal, chose the 32auctions online fundraising platform, and, on January 14, circulated a pitch among publishers and others in the industry. They emphasized "items likely to attract multiple bids in order to raise maximum funds for frontline charities as quickly as possible," and focused on charities that mobilize for direct relief: the California Community Foundation's Wildfire Relief Fund, L.A. Regional Food Bank, L.A. Fire Department Foundation, and Animal Wellness Foundation Fire Relief Fund.
Dozens of contributions poured in immediately, including signed editions and other gifts courtesy of authors Tracey Baptiste, Donna Barba Higuera, Suzanne Collins, Drew Daywalt, and Daniel Nayeri, and illustrated work by Pete Oswald and Bob Shea. Simon & Schuster executive editor Celia Lee promised an "ask me anything" session, as did Steven Malk at Writers House and Saba Sulaiman at Talcott Notch Literary Services. Author and writing coach Kate Messner donated a reading of a 50,000-word middle grade manuscript and, like others in the group, guaranteed an "above-the-slushpile sub opportunity" to a winning bidder.
Kidlit for Los Angeles's auction will boast luminaries including Taylor Norman at Neal Porter Books, Melissa Manlove at Sourcebooks, Miranda Paul at Erin Murphy Literary Agency, Jennifer Rofé at Andrea Brown Literary Agency, and Erica Rand Silverman and Allison Hellegers at Stimola Literary Studio. The response has been beyond the auction team's expectations. "I think we already have something from almost every major publisher," Offsay said.
An Outpouring of Donations
As Kidlit for Los Angeles raises funds that will reach far beyond readers, Children's Book World in West Los Angeles is asking publishers for book donations. CBW, a bookstore whose nonprofit Children's Book Recycling Center distributes books to Title 1 schools and families in need, is mustering support, while managing their own profound stress and loss. Some CBW staffers "remain in limbo until they can safely return to their homes," general manager Brein Lopez told PW. "We know there will be lots of rebuilding of school, community, and home libraries happening in the future, but in the meantime CBW is focused on helping families deal with this emotional experience through the comfort of special books."
CBW's Book Recycling Center has paused donations of gently used books, but is "privately accepting donations of books from publishers, literary organizations, and community groups so that we can coordinate distribution to help centers set up for families across L.A.," Lopez said. He reinforced that CBW does "targeted" distribution where books are most needed, and new books will go to replace lost collections. "I want to be clear we are seeking long-term support from publishers for the rebuilding of these book-loving communities," he added.
For starters, Lopez will receive significant book donations via the Children's Book Council and its executive director, Carl Lennertz. Additional financial assistance, for shipping the cargo, will come courtesy of the Impact and Legacy Fund of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, headed by Lin Oliver. "We have a lot of books in the CBC office to send," Lennertz told PW. "For that, I was looking for a donation to Every Child a Reader" -- the CBC's 501c3 charity -- "to cover the shipping cost. And Lin and the ILF came through right away" with a $1,000 mini-grant for the mailing.
Oliver, who lives in L.A., was proud that the ILF could support a project in her home city. "The loss is immense," she said. "So many of us are housing friends -- writers whose houses have gone up in flames -- and volunteering to hand out food and supplies. I know when the immediate crisis subsides, we will all do what we can to rebuild schools and libraries and programs for kids."
On January 15, the CBC also emailed its 140 member publishers, requesting that they consider sending book donations to CBW, and a day later, boxes already were en route from Candlewick Press, Chronicle Books, Sleeping Bear Press, Two Lions, Quarto, Familius, and Regal Press. "We've been able to respond to natural and human disasters in the past, and we always need a person on the ground organizing things so the books don't get stuck on a loading dock," Lennertz said. "Brein came to mind right away, as we've worked on other projects." (He recalled how Cathy Berner of Blue Willow Bookshop coordinated a CBC publisher donation effort in Houston after 2017's Hurricane Harvey, and estimated that the donations to L.A. likely would surpass the 2,500 books Berner handled.)
Lopez expressed determination as he thought about the days, and years, to come. "Once things have settled down, we will be coordinating with the schools and community organizations that are rebuilding, to help them get donated books for their libraries and classrooms," he said. "We know this will be a long journey to help rebuild our community, which has supported our bookstore for four decades, and we remain a permanent partner for their restoration."