Georgetown University Angel Book Drive

The Project

We never forget the books we loved as children. Every child should read, love, and own books. Throughout the winter season, the Georgetown University community shares the gift of reading with youngsters in local tutoring and mentoring programs and in area schools through the Georgetown University Angel Book Drive. After a two-year pause, the Angel Book Drive returns in 2022 to continue its mission of distributing books to  children in the Washington, D.C. area. In 2019, more than 1,000 books were distributed.

Donate In Person or Online

Contributing to the Georgetown Angel Book Drive is easy! Participants simply drop off new or gently used books for children and young adults at one of several collection sites across our campuses. Collection bins are located at:

Main and Medical Center Campuses

  • The Georgetown University Bookstore
  • Lauinger Memorial Library lobby
  • The Office of the President, second floor Healy Hall
  • Car Barn lobby
  • Pre-Clinical Science Building, outside Dahlgren Memorial Library
  • Healey Family Student Center 
  • Hariri Building, second floor atrium
  • St. Mary’s Hall, front lobby
  • Hoya Kids

School of Continuing Studies

  • Level C1, front desk

Georgetown University Law Center

  • Eric. E. Hotung International Law Building lobby
  • 500 First Street, NW lobby

2115 Wisconsin Avenue NW

  • Lobby elevators

You can also donate using the Georgetown Angel Book Drive’s Wishlist. Choose from our list of suggested titles or pick your own childhood favorite! 

Beneficiaries

Through the years, the Georgetown University Angel Book Drive has partnered with programs throughout the Washington, D.C. region.  Past partner organizations have included:

  • CentroNia – CentroNia is a bilingual education community for children, teenagers, and adults.
  • Children’s National Medical Center (CNMC) – CNMC is the only exclusive provider of pediatric care in the metropolitan Washington area.
  • Crossway Community – Crossway Community is a non-profit organization that offers services to the D.C. community to reduce poverty and create social change
  • Georgetown University Hospital – The Hospital provides care to countless patients and uses the book donations throughout the hospital including the pediatric mobile van and the NICU.
  • Hope and a Home – Hope and a Home is a community-based organization providing low-income families with the tools to create sustainable homes for themselves and their families.
  • Jumpstart – Jumpstart brings together college students and community volunteers to help ensure that children in America enter school prepared to succeed.
  • KIPP DC Aim Academy – KIPP DC is a network of public, college preparatory charter schools in Washington DC. The Aim Academy was created to continue the success of KIPP DC’s first school, Key Academy.
  • LaSalle Elementary Schools – LaSalle Public Elementary Schools operates three school buildings servicing Pre-Kindergarten through 8th grade.
  • Perry School Community Service Center: Bright Beginnings – The Perry School Community Service Center provides services to individuals in DC facing poverty. Bright Beginnings serves as a developmental childcare center.
  • St. Ann’s Infant and Maternity Home – St. Ann’s program provides residential care and services to abused and neglected children and to single pregnant and parenting adolescents.
  • Scrilla Carmelitas Day Care Center – Scrilla Carmelitas Day Care Center provides childcare services to over 40 families.
  • So Others Might Eat (SOME) – SOME is an interfaith, community based organization serving D.C.’s homeless and extremely poor citizens.
  • Thea Bowman House – SOME’s Thea Bowman Housing Program provides housing for families in need.
  • Washington Jesuit Academy (WJA) – WJA is a Catholic middle school offering tuition-free education to disadvantaged boys in the 6th, 7th, and 8th graders.

Faculty Favorites

Georgetown University faculty members have supported participation in the Angel Book Drive project throughout the years by offering recommendations of some of the best children’s literature, as well as their own family favorites. Each of these options make excellent contributions each year:

BABY/PRESCHOOL (UP TO 3 YRS)

Ahlberg, Janet and Allan. Each Peach Pear Plum.
Bang, Molly. Ten, Nine, Eight.
Bannerman, Helen. The Story of Little Babaji.
Boynton, Sandra. Dinosaur’s Binkit. The Going to Bed Book. Hippos Go Berserk. Moo Baa La La La.
Brown, Margaret Wise. Goodnight Moon. Runaway Bunny.
Carle, Eric. The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
Carter, David. Feely Bugs.
Cooke, Trish. So Much.
Crews, Donald. Freight Train.
Dorros, Arthur. Abuela.
Hoban, Russell. Bread & Jam for Frances.
Keats, Ezra Jack. Peter’s Chair. The Snowy Day.
Marshall, James. George and Martha.
Martin, Bill Jr. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.
McBratney, Sam. Guess How Much I Love You.
Pfister, Marcus. The Rainbow Fish.
Raschka, Chris. Yo! Yes?
Rice, Eve. Sam Who Never Forgets.
Simmons, Jane. Daisy series.
Walsh, Ellen Stoll. Mouse Paint.
Wells, Rosemary. Noisy Nora.
Wood, Audrey. I’m as Quick as a Cricket. The Napping House.

BEGINNING READER (4-8 YRS)

Allard, Harry. Miss Nelson is Missing!
Andrews, Jan. Very Last First Time.
Berenstain, Stan and Jan. Berenstain Bears series.
Bourgeois, Paulette. Franklin series.
Bridwell, Norman. Clifford series.
Brown, Jeff. Flat Stanley.
Brown, Marc. Arthur series.
Burton, Virginia Lee. Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel.
Cameron, Ann. Stories Julian Tells.
Cannon, Janell. Stellaluna.
Climo, Shirley. The Egyptian Cinderella.
Cole, Joanna. The Magic School Bus series.
Dahl, Roald. BFG.
DePaola, Tomie. Big Anthony and the Magic Ring. Strega Nona series. The Legend of Old Befana.
Eastman, P.D. Are You My Mother?
Flournoy, Valerie. The Patchwork Quilt.
Ghazi, Suhaib Hamid. Ramadan.
Grahame, Kenneth. The Wind in the Willows.
Hall, Donald. Ox Cart Man.
Heide, Florence Parry. The Day of Ahmed’s Secret.
Henkes, Kevin. Chrysanthemum.
Hoberman, Mary Ann. A House Is a House for Me.
Hoffman, Mary. Amazing Grace.
Hopkinson, Deborah. Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt.
Gilman, Phoebe. Something From Nothing.
Hamilton, Virginia. The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales.
Hest, Amy. Jamaica Louise James.
Hoberman, Mary Ann. A House Is a House For Me.
Howe, James. Pinky and Rex series.
Hutchins, Pat. Titch.
Isaacs, Anne. Swamp Angel.
Johnson, Crockett. Harold and the Purple Crayon.
Jones, Joy. Tambourine Moon.
Joyce, Irma. Never Talk to Strangers.
Killilea, Marie. Newf.
Kimmel, Eric. Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock.
Kraus, Robert. Leo the Late Bloomer.
Kroll, Virginia. Masai and I.
Leaf, Munro. The Story of Ferdinand.
Lewin, Ted. The Storytellers.
Lobel, Arnold. Fables. Frog and Toad Are Friends.
Matthews, Mary. Magid Fasts for Ramadan.
Mazer, Anne. The Salamander Room.
McCloskey, Robert. Make Way for Ducklings.
McCully, Emily Arnold. Mirette on the High Wire.
McDermott, Gerald. Papagayo: the Mischief Maker.
McKissack, Patricia. Flossie and the Fox. Mirandy and Brother Wind.
Menendez, Shirley. Allie the Christmas Spider.
Miller, William. Zora Hurston and the Chinaberry Tree.
Minarik, Elsa Holmelund. Little Bear.
Mosel, Arlene. Tikki Tikki Tembo.
Munsch, Robert. The Paper Bag Princess.
Numeroff, Laura Joffe. If You Give a Pig a Pancake.
Nye, Naomi Shihab. Sitti’s Secrets.
Osborne, Mary Pope. The Magic Tree House series.
Paulson, Gary. The Tortilla Factory.
Quattlebaum, Mary. Aunt CeeCee, Aunt Belle, and Mama’s Surprise. Underground Train.
Rathmann, Peggy. Good Night, Gorilla. Officer Buckle and Gloria. Ruby the Copycat.
Rey, H.A. Curious George series.
Ringgold, Faith. Aunt Harriet’s Underground Railroad in the Sky. Tar Beach.
Rumford, James. Traveling Man: the Journey of Ibn Battuta, 1325-1354.
Rylant, Cynthia. Henry and Mudge series.
Sasso, Sandy Eisenberg. But God Remembered: Stories of Women from Creation to the Promised Land.
Scarry, Richard. The Bunny Book.
Scieszka, Joe. The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales. The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs.
Sendak, Maurice. In the Night Kitchen. Where the Wild Things Are.
Sisulu, Elinor. The Day Gogo Went to Vote.
Soto, Gary. Snapshots from the Wedding.
Speare, Jean. A Candle for Christmas.
Steig, William. Brave Irene. Dr. De Soto. The Amazing Bone.
Steptoe, John. Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters.
Stohs, Anita Reith. Easter Alleluia Book.
Stone, Jon. The Monster at the End of This Book.
Seuss, Dr. The Cat & the Hat. Green Eggs & Ham. Hop On Pop. Horton Hatches the Egg.
Tolhurst, Marilyn. Somebody and the Three Blairs.
Van Allsburg, Chris. Ben’s Dream. Two Bad Ants. The Polar Express.
Viorst, Judith. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.
Williams, Karen Lynn. When Africa Was Home.
Williams, Margery. The Velveteen Rabbit.
Yorinks, Arthur. Hey, Al. Sid & Sol.
Young, Ed. Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China.

YOUTH (9-12 YRS)

Alden, Raymond. Why the Chimes Rang.
Alexander, Lloyd. The Book of Three. The Iron Ring. The Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen.
Babbitt, Natalie. Tuck Everlasting.
Banks, Lynne Reid. The Indian in the Cupboard.
Blume, Judy. Fudge-A-Mania. Superfudge. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.
Brooks, Bruce. The Moves Make the Man.
Bulla, Clyde Robert. Shoeshine Girl.
Burnett, Frances Hodgson. The Secret Garden.
Byars, Betsy. Tornado.
Cleary, Beverly. Dear Mr. Henshaw. Muggie Maggy. Ramona series.
Coles, Robert. The Story of Ruby Bridges.
Cooper, Susan. The Dark is Rising.
Curtis, Christopher Paul. Bud, Not Buddy. The Watsons Go to Birmingham.
Dahl, Roald.  BFG. Charlie & the Chocolate Factory. James and the Giant Peach.
de Saint-Exupery, Antoine. The Little Prince.
Evans, Douglas. The Elevator Family.
Fitzhugh, Louise. Harriet the Spy.
Fox, Paula. Maurice’s Room.
Gates, Doris. Blue Willow.
Grahame, Kenneth. Wind in the Willows.
Hamilton, Virginia. Her Stories: African American Folktales, Fairy Tales, and True Tales.
Jones, Diane Wynne. Witch Week.
Juster, Norton. The Phantom Tollbooth.
Konigsburg, E.L. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.
Krumgold, Joseph. …and now Miguel.
Lewis, C.S. The Chronicles of Narnia series.
Lindgren, Astrid. Pippi Longstocking.
Lynch, Chris. Gold Dust.
Milne, A.A. Winnie the Pooh series.
Myers, Walter Dean. The Righteous Revenge of Artemis Bonner.
Norton, Mary. The Borrowers.
Nye, Naomi Shihab. Habibi.
O?Dell, Scott. Island of the Blue Dolphins.
Paterson, Katherine. Bridge to Terabithia.
Porter, Connie. Meet Addy: An American Girl. American Girl series.
Quattlebaum, Mary. Grover G. Graham and Me. Jackson Jones and the Puddle of Thorns.
Rawls, Wilson. Where the Red Fern Grows.
Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter series.
Scieszka, Jon. Knights of the Kitchen Table series.
Sebestyen, Ouida. Words by Heart.
Snicket, Lemmony. A Series of Unfortunate Events series.
Snyder, Zilpha Keatley. The Egypt Game.
Stratton-Porter, Gene. A Girl of the Limberlost.
Taylor, Sydney. All-of-a-Kind Family.
Voigt, Cynthia. Homecoming.
Walter, Margaret Pitts. Justin and the Best Biscuits in the World.
White, E.B. Charlotte’s Web.
Wojciechowska, Maia. Shadow of a Bull.

YOUNG ADULT (13-18 YRS)

Angelou, Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
Carlson, Lori Marie. Where Angels Glide at Dawn: New Stories from Latin America.
Childress, Alice. A Hero Ain’t Nothin’ but a Sandwich.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby.
Garfield, Leon. Smith.
Hamilton, Virginia. The Magical Adventures of Pretty Pearl.
Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird.
Salinger, J.D. Catcher in the Rye.
Saunders, Marshall. Beautiful Joe.
Taylor, Mildred.  Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. Song of the Trees.
Walker, Alice. The Color Purple.
Wrede, Patricia. The Enchanted Forest Chronicles.