Local organizations partner to provide all kids across the metro with free books

Lyd's Kids and Trilogy Real Estate have received over 4,000 donated books from across the country

FARGO, N.D. — It’s the season of giving, and for a Fargo librarian, there’s no better gift than giving a child a book to get lost in.

“It brings a tear to your eye,” says Lydia Faulkner, a librarian at Horace Mann Roosevelt Elementary. “I mean, just to see a child that really wants something and you’re able to provide that for them; just the look on their face just means everything.”

Faulkner’s mission of making sure all children have access to books at home began two years ago when one of her students was worried he couldn’t access the school library over winter break.

“I thought, ‘Well if one student doesn’t have a book, how many other students do not have books?'” she recalls.

Faulkner collected 500 books that year to give to students who wanted them.

Now, two years later, her organization Lyd’s Kids is handing out thousands of books to kids across the metro. Seeing the books sprawled out over multiple tables, she says, “I was flabbergasted. From my little, few tables that I had at school set up to this huge spread.”

In partnership with Trilogy Real Estate in Fargo, Lyd’s Kids has been asking for donations over the past several weeks.

They now have around 4,000 books that have been coming in from across the metro and even across the country.

The books will be distributed this Saturday at Trilogy Real Estate from 12 to 5 p.m., and they hope every book can find a new home.

Trilogy owner Theresa Halvorson says, “Reading can change your whole world. I mean, if you pick up that one book that you connect with, it opens up all possibilities, and that’s really– how cool is that to change kids’ lives and to give them that opportunity?”

Faulkner says visitors will be expected to wear face masks, social distance and utilize hand sanitizing stations while browsing books.

Anyone can stop by to pick up a book.

For more information on Lyd’s Kids: Every Child Deserves a Book or Saturday’s event, click here.