Sharing a book you love, finding a new favourite and donating to an important charity: why you should host a Great Book Swap!

“The Great Book Swap is a win-win. Not only does it help raise money to improve literacy levels in remote communities, but the excitement and fun that a book swap generates will help improve literacy levels in your community or organisation as well!”

Andy Griffiths, ILF Ambassador.

When you find a book that means something to you, it’s a wonderful feeling to share it with others. The Great Book Swap is an initiative by the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) to raise money to help instil a love of reading in Indigenous children across Australia. In a Book Swap, you bring a copy of a book you loved (but can bear to part with), and for a gold coin donation, swap it for someone else’s. At the end of the day, everyone goes home with a new read that they know comes highly recommended, and your gold coins go towards the ILF. By donating, you’re helping to purchase books for families in remote communities and celebrate Indigenous culture, as well as cultivating a school or workplace environment that is enthusiastic about books, reading, learning and social justice.

The year the ILF wants to help raise $200,000 to buy 20,000 books, and it is easy for you to be a part of it! Here are the ILF’s 5 Simple Steps to hosting your very own Book Swap:

1. Register your swap online and download your event resources at greatbookswap.org.au
2. Choose the date + tell your friends and colleagues. Any day is a great day to open your doors to literacy and swap a story. We suggest sometime when you can be assured literacy is on everyone’s minds:

• Indigenous Literacy Day, Wednesday September 7 2016
• NAIDOC Week 5-12 July
• National Reconciliation Week 27 May – 3 June
• National Literacy and Numeracy Week, 29 August – 4 September

Give a shout out for your event. Get your announcements into newsletters and social media. Tell us                 at the Indigenous Literacy Foundation and we can add it to our shout out.

3. Gather the books. Set up an area for the collection of books for your event. A great idea is to circulate bookplates, available in our kit. The bookplate shares your enthusiasm for the book and wishes the new reader a good read!
4. Swap the books and collect the money. Collect a gold coin for every book swapped.
5.  Send the funds to the ILF. The foundation will use these funds to provide books to kids in remote communities. All donations over $2 are tax deductible. Details on how to donate are included in your kit.

Read more about specific ideas for a Great Book Swap in a school or library, in a workplace or business, or even in your Book Club, and click here for testimonials from schools about their own Book Swaps.

If you don’t think a Great Book Swap will work for your school or workplace, but still want to get involved, there are lots of other ways you can help! Click here for more information for schools or just how to donate.