Raising Readers – News and Events

Free Children’s Book Giveaway

Hachette Book Group is thrilled to welcome community members to our annual $1.00 book sale and children’s book giveway, with a chance to choose from thousands of favorite books. And to celebrate the New York Times bestselling book, It’s My Bird-Day! by Mo Willems, a pigeon will be present to hand out free books.

Rain or shine, join us on Saturday, June 13, 2026, 8 AM – 9 AM at our distribution center in Lebanon, Indiana. Learn more here and register for the event at the button below.

To serve as many families as possible during our one-hour event, we are using family ticket preregistrations to keep the line moving.

How it Works:

• One Ticket Per Family: To keep things simple, you only need to register for one “Family Pass.” This single ticket covers all the children in your immediate household.
• Check-In: Please have your digital or printed QR code ready to scan as you reach the front of the line. We will scan your family pass once, and then each child in your group can head in to receive their book!

Hachette Celebrates Raising Readers & World Book Day with an ACLU Banned Books Partnership

Hachette Book Group (HBG) proudly joined the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to mark World Book Day and Bring a Child to Work Day, kicking off the groups’ powerful collaboration on Hachette’s Raising Readers campaign. The effort is Hachette’s global social impact initiative aimed at tackling the concerning decline in children’s reading for fun and entertainment.  

HBG was pleased to support the ACLU on April 23 in its launch of Know Your Rights University, a multi-episode animated series created for children and adults to make learning their rights fun and empowering. The short-form series offers engaging, age-appropriate content that helps children and their parents understand First Amendment rights, core civics concepts, and other legal protections. 

HBG donated a library of 200 banned children’s books to the Know Your Rights University event, which was held at an educational center in New York City on World Book Day and Bring a Child to Work Day on April 23. HBG staff also attended the event, which featured a library of The ABCs of Black History, The ABCs of Queer History, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sold, Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe, and The Family Book. 

Read more in Publisher’s Weekly.

Hachette Book Group Partners with Read Ahead

Hachette Book Group (HBG) partners with Read Ahead to host a Raising Readers Holiday Gift Book Wrapping Event in December at HBG’s New York City office.

Read Ahead is an organization that equips elementary students with opportunities to unlock their full potential through reading-based mentoring that supports social-emotional skills essential for academic and life-long success. 

During the event, HBG and Read Ahead volunteers and supporters will wrap 1000 children’s books donated by HBG for under-served NYC students during the holiday season.

Hachette Marks 200th Anniversary with $200,000 Fund to Provide Curated Classroom Libraries to 200 Underfunded Schools and Education Programs

HBG’s $200,000 Raising Readers fund will be dedicated to social impact initiatives embedded within its urgent and long-term Raising Readers campaign. Raising Readers strives to raise awareness of the decline in the number of children reading for fun and encourages everyone to make reading for enjoyment part of children’s daily lives. Reading for fun impacts academic results, mental health, wealth, communication skills, happiness, and ambition. 

A Message from Reese Witherspoon