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Getting Involved

It is difficult for many of us to imagine not having the resources to obtain books, but this is the case with so many children RIFSoCal serves. RIFSoCal books are often the first book in the home, becoming the beginning of a personal home library.

With service to Los Angeles County’s most resource-deprived children since 1972, RIFSoCal has witnessed thousands of life-changing moments and received innumerable testimonials from grateful participants. We are now into our second and third generation of RIFSoCal “kids.”

RIFSoCal will build the personal libraries of more than 100,000 children in the Greater Los Angeles area in the 2010 – 2011 program year, distributing over 300,000 new books of choice at more than 285 sites, including Title I public and parochial schools, Head Start programs, and community-based organizations.

Coordinators Choose Books

Coordinators from over 230 RIFSoCal sites visit our warehouse three times each program year to select books for their students to choose and take home to create their own home libraries.  Often overwhelmed by the extraordinary selection of titles, many spend hours identifying the free, new books they feel will excite the children in their program to read for FUN and pleasure. 

Book Delivery at RIFSoCal

When orders are delivered, they come in various quantities. Here, Mark Williams, RIFSoCal Program Assistant, helps a delivery man transfer a palette of books from the truck to the warehouse. Some palettes are twice this height; whereas other deliveries are just a few boxes. We try to stagger them in order to unpack and stock the shelves before the next delivery. Sometimes it works, and sometimes we are up to our elbows in alligators (books about alligators, that is)!