Not a Book Drive, a DIBS Drive: Turning the Page on Traditional Book Distribution

At DIBS for Kids, we are revolutionizing the way Omaha thinks about book drives. Communities across the nation conduct often book drives to breathe new life into the books stowed away in attic boxes or sitting on dusty bookshelves, outgrown by their readers. While the end result of these book drives deploys books into communities who need them – which is great! – they lead to some logistical challenges. We need to make sure books are high-interest and avoid shuffling books from shelf to shelf after only one read-through. The best books have broken spines from being read and loved; we believe every book should have the opportunity to be read that many times. Behold, the DIBS Drive!

What is a DIBS Drive?

In order to effectively distribute books to their students, teachers need more than just books. They need funds to purchase books, an inventory system to keep track of them, and a classroom culture that builds a community of readers in their classroom. That’s where we come in!

The DIBS Drive is a way the community can support public school teachers to send home an average of 80 books per year with each student.

It’s not a book drive.

Our vision for this DIBS Drive (and future ones) is to raise money for individual teachers who want to implement the DIBS program. Like our Adopt-a-Classroom initiative, where businesses fund a local classroom to adopt DIBS, the DIBS Drive allows the community to band together and raise funds for teachers who want to send home more books with their students. As our teacher waitlist grows, we want to kick this DIBS Drive and future ones into high gear!

What do teachers get with DIBS?

1. Classroom Set-Up

The DIBS Drive is not just about books. When teachers opt-in to DIBS, we provide them with about 200 high interest books, 6 vibrant book bins, 30 sturdy book folders for their students, monthly classroom activities, fun DIBS posters, and those are just the physical items!

2. Training and Support

DIBS also provides teachers with video training and on-demand technical support. These help our teachers navigate the DIBS program and develop a routine that fits in their classroom. Plus, if they ever have any questions, comments, or concerns, we are waiting in the wings to resolve any program issues that arise.

3. DIBS Family

Teacher from Adams Elementary speaks with DIBS School Support Director, Marie Kovar.

Being a part of the DIBS family gives teachers access to a community of educators who are dedicated to engaging students in reading. It also provides external support to keep them motivated – much like a family! – in the drive toward childhood literacy proficiency. DIBS program technical support and DIBS family moral support allow teachers to focus on building a classroom culture around reading, while DIBS takes care of sending books home in a student-led way.

How can I get involved?

Join us for our first DIBS Drive

We are hosting our very first DIBS Drive to support Omaha teachers on May 8th, 2019 at Infusion Brewing Company in Benson. Drop by and participate in our silent auction or grab a drink and chat with the DIBS team. You will also be among the first to see our brand new professional video by Frost Media Group. Get your free ticket here!

Host your own DIBS Drive

Want to host your own DIBS Drive, please reach out! We would love to work with you to support more teachers to send home books with their students every night. You can contact us at contact@dibsforkids.org or give us a call at 402-979-6122.

Comments are closed.