About

Making books a birthright in Berkeley & beyond since 2015

We provide age-appropriate books by mail monthly to East Bay children age 0 to 5th birthday who live in our service areas of Berkeley+Emeryville and Richmond+San Pablo.

The BBBP is a Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Partner. We enroll children to receive their quality books. Parents/Gaurdians select either English or Bilingual Spanish-English books and can switch at any time.

We pay Imagination Library (IL) for books mailed to children we enroll in our IL Programs along with all other costs of our nonprofit organization.

Why Support The BBBP?

Because Literacy is a civil right.

And Books from Birth in the home from the start are the Best tools in the Best place at the Best time to plant and nurture the brain-roots of Literacy. Books from birth are best.

Literacy is necessary for thriving in our Information Age. Without Literacy, a person is functionally handicapped, unable to fully access and participate in and shape the systems, movements,& institutions of society. We want all children to grow up able to fully participate in shaping our society, their futures. We need them to be literate.

Research from around the world spanning decades shows ownership of books from birth predicts Kindergarten Readiness and Literacy more accurately than any other metric.

Brain growth and development rates in the earliest years are never again matched. It’s simple to spark powerful connections between areas of the brain that are key to later literacy in those early months and years with frequent, playful time spent sharing and describing images and print on the pages of picture books.

 READING IS CODE-BREAKING; it’s making meaning from symbols.

Key brain areas connect images representing real things (trees, balls, people, clouds) to the sounds (spoken words) representing them. Later, these little squiggles on a page or screen get connected to sounds - spoken words - for things they represent. Later still, collections of these squiggles - written words - get connected to the spoken words they represent - words for things as well as ideas and concepts.

Complex brain growth and neural connections are sparked by simply turning pages, pointing and naming things and print in a book from as early as a few months..

Children who spend frequent time with books from early in life enter school with larger “banks” of known words than children who do not. It’s much simpler to connect a word whose meaning and sound is known to the spelling of it than to try to learn the sound, meaning, letters and spelling of an unknown one all at once.

Ownership of books from birth is research-proven to predict Kindergarten readiness, regardless of any other factor - including family income or education level.

Imagination Library is a low-barrier to program — a child qualifies for based only on their age and home address.

No other questions are asked to determine eligibility.

Increased Kindergarten Readiness rates reduce the need for our public schools to provide expensive “intervention” Programs aimed at filling a Gap we never should have allowed to form.

All Imagination Library Programs are run by local Partners, like us. We define our own Service Areas. Once set, all 0 to 5 year olds in it are eligible to be enrolled. Like all IL Partners, we pay for IL for books mailed to children we enroll along with all other costs of running The BBBP, including Outreach and Fundraising. Our Outreach targets low-income families.

Research continues to show that ownership of books from birth has a powerful impact on children’s cognitive development academic success.

By providing well selected, age appropriate, quality books by mail to children we’re cultivating the Joy of book ownership and of reading, democratizing literacy, and building a stronger community right where we live.

Join us! Donate today! Tell your friends! Send us leads for Grants! We are an independent, small organization, unlike most IL Programs with more than 100 enrollees. As of September 2025 we’re closing in on 2,200. Given adequate funding we could activate the Online Enrollment form for Richmond & San Pablo and grow to over 5,000 in our two programs within 12-18 months! If you’d like to see that as much as we would, give us a call! 510-292-1346 or email seena@thebbbp.org

Board of Directors

  • Seena Hawley

    Executive Director & Secretary

    Seena taught elementary school in San Jose before returning to her hometown of Berkeley in 2007 aiming to teach middle school Language Arts. But, along the way events, research, interests and children she met on the Berkeley Unified school buses she drove changed her path and led her to found The BBBP.

    The BBBP was officially formed in 2012, gained 501(c)(3) status in 2013 and launched its Imagination Library Program in 2015.

  • Sarah Davis

    President & Treasurer

    Raised in Berkeley, Sarah is retired from her position as Project Manager at UC Davis. She and her husband, a retired organic farmer, live in Davis where they raised two sons. Sarah has a long history of civic engagement and work in her communities, in Davis and in Berkeley. She serves on the Board of Camp Unalayee, a nonprofit wilderness summer camp serving youth age 10 to 17.

  • Tom Buoye

    Director

    Tom adopted Berkeley as his hometown when he attended UCB. After studying Engineering, he spent his career at UCB and Autodesk. Since the 1970s he has worked with Camp Unalayee in various capacitities, including serving on their Board of Directors. He is active in Berkeley's bicycling community.

  • Jessica Wheelis

    Board Member

    Jessica is a former Oakland Public Schools K-1 teacher. She is knowledgeable and enthusiastic about promoting early literacy. She was instrumental in getting us off the ground and making our San Pablo Park events fun for everyone for years, pre-Covid. Although she began a new venture during the Pandemic she still advises and supplies us with fun & creative activities for events.

    Jessica holds a Masters of Science in Education as well as a California Teacher's Credential, and for many years was involved in leadership positions with Rosa Parks Elementary school's large and active PTA.

  • Dr. Robin Winokur

    Board Member

    Dr. Winokur is the co-founder and practitioner at Kiwi Pediatrics Berkeley. She came to California from Ohio via Stanford University and Michigan Medical School. In 1985 she and Dr. David Kittams formed a business partnership and founded Kiwi Pediatrics on Alcatraz Ave, later adding an office on San Pablo near the Albany border. Her work practicing and advocating for quality care, access to resources, and healthy communities for all children benefits uncountable families, and wins awards.

  • Jennifer Larsh

    Board Member

    Jennifer “Jenn” Larsh has a long history of advocacy for the health and vigor of her community, especially it’s children. She spent many years working with an after-school learning program at the South Berkeley YMCA, and went on to become Berkeley YMCA’s Membership Services Coordinator. She left the YMCA to pursue professional opportunities and a Master’s Degree. She has been an advisor to and advocate for The BBBP from its infancy.

Board Advisors & constant supporters

  • Fund Development Advisor

    Helen works to develop new sources of funding and maintain existing ones, both individual and institutional. A long-time Berkeley resident, she is retired from a career in commercial bank lending and relationship management. We are fortunate she has chosen to include The BBBP in her ongoing work and support for organizations that benefit our communities.

  • Webmaster, logo-master, LONG time recurring donor.

    Justin has been with The BBBP since before it was named. He designed our logo way back when. Since 2015 he’s been in charge of all things Tech-y and Web-based. We rely on him for advice, planning, and implementation as well as urgent requests for help.

What Is Imagination Library, and what is the BBBP’s relationship to it?

Imagination Library Partners make the Imagination Library (IL) Program available in Program Service Areas we define.

IL supplies the people, systems, and infrastructure that get the books ordered and mailed every month. We pay Imagination only for for books mailed to our Enrollees. Our two Service Areas are Berkeley+ZIP code 94608 (all of Emeryville + a few blocks in Oakland), and Richmond+San Pablo. The BBBP is a stand-alone 501(c)3 nonprofit supported by local donors and grantmakers. We do our own fundraising, as well as all Outreach, administration, & management for our IL Programs.

HOW IT WORKS:

Rare for Programs benefitting children, a child qualifies for the IL Program on their own: their birthdate and home address are the only criteria. No other questions are asked to determine eligibility:) Richmond-San Pablo families must use paper form to enroll - places to find them are listed on the Enroll page. Berkeley-Emeryville families can use a link to enroll online on the Enrollment page.

Once enrolled books are mailed monthly beginning the second month after enrollment until their 5th birthday month. Titles sent are age-based. Book lists are updated annually by an IL Team. Either English or Bilingual English & Spanish books are selected when enrolling; selection can be changed by contacting us.

IL Books are mailed bulk rate - no forwarding service. Families must contact us to change book delivery address.

¿Qué es la Biblioteca Imaginación y cuál es la relación del BBBP con ella?

Los Socios de la Biblioteca Imaginación hacen que el Programa Biblioteca Imaginación esté disponible en las Áreas de Servicio que definimos.

Biblioteca Imaginación proporciona el personal, los sistemas y la infraestructura que gestionan los pedidos y envíos de libros mensualmente. Pagamos a Imaginación solo por los libros enviados por correo a nuestros inscritos. Nuestras dos Áreas de Servicio son Berkeley+ ZIP 94608 (todo Emeryville y algunas cuadras de Oakland) y Richmond+San Pablo. El BBBP es una organización sin fines de lucro 501(c)3 independiente, financiada por donantes y donantes locales. Nos encargamos de la recaudación de fondos, así como de la difusión, administración y gestión de nuestros Programas de LI.

CÓMO FUNCIONA:

Algo poco común en los programas que benefician a niños, un niño califica para el Programa de LI por sí solo: su fecha de nacimiento y domicilio son los únicos criterios. No se hacen otras preguntas para determinar la elegibilidad. Las familias de Richmond-San Pablo deben usar el formulario impreso para inscribirse. Encontrará información sobre cómo encontrarlos en la página de Inscripción. Las familias de Berkeley-Emeryville pueden usar el formulario de inscripción en línea, cuyo enlace encontrará en la página de Inscripción.

Una vez inscritos, los libros se envían por correo mensualmente desde el segundo mes posterior a la inscripción hasta el mes en que cumplen 5 años. Los títulos se envían por edad. Un equipo de IL actualiza la lista de libros anualmente. Al inscribirse, se seleccionan libros en inglés o bilingües inglés y español; puede cambiar la selección contactándonos. Los libros de IL se envían por correo a granel; no se reenvían. Las familias deben contactarnos para cambiar la dirección de entrega.

Some of our Funders:

  • Bernard E. & Alba Witkin Charitable Foundation

  • Mechanics Bank

  • Chamberlin Education Foundation Richmond, CA

  • In Dulci Jubilo, Inc.

  • The Barrios Trust; Warren Wilson, Founder

  • the James Joseph Ford Foundation

  • Share the Spirit East Bay

  • An Anonymous California Family Foundation

  • EVCharge4U Berkeley

  • A Family Fund・San Francisco Foundation

  • The BBBP Board of Directors

  • Berkeley Police Association

  • Lifelong Medical Heart 2 Heart Program

  • The Friendship Fund

In Memoriam

Miriam Hawley

Founding board member, first president and generous supporter

Miriam (“Mim”)’s civic engagement in and around Berkeley is remembered by many. Her insightful work created impacts that continue to positively affect countless East Bay transit riders and young residents, including children receiving books thru The BBBP. Without her support, The BBBP would not have come to be. She is sorely missed.

She was a remarkable and wise woman who knew when to nudge and nurture, when to firmly demand, and importantly, how to create budgets aimed at nurturing a better future for all of us.

She was known in Berkeley City politics for being a consensus builder, for bridging divides between beings with seemingly intractable differences. Even intergalactic ones, apparently. There is a rememberance in Berkeleyside.