A New Partnership for SCBWI-MI

By Molly David

The Leadership Team is always looking for new ways to help SCBWI-MI members expand their reach in the community. We are excited to announce a new partnership with Bookstock that will help us promote literacy programs, connections with area teachers, and raise money for future events.

This is the first year SCBWI-MI will partner with Bookstock.

We love books; they love books. It’s a perfect match.

What does that mean for our members?

We are asking members to volunteer to work shifts at Bookstock this year. If you’ve always wanted to volunteer to help SCBWI and raise money for area literacy programs, but only had a few hours to spare, this is the opportunity for you.

Volunteers organize books during the one-week books sale, help customers, and take payments during the event in Livonia. This is a great way for us to raise money so we can provide more benefits to our members. A sign-up sheet will be available on SCBWI-MI’s events page on March 12^th.

Bookstock is also allowing us to set up a few tables where our members can sell their books and/or promote their school visits to Bookstock shoppers. 

Here is how it will work:

Teacher appreciation days are Tuesday, April 29th and Wednesday, April 30th. If you work a shift, you can have a spot at a table to share your author school visit information and sell some signed books. Work a two-hour shift on Tuesday or Wednesday and then have the remaining time to promote your books and school visits. If you would rather volunteer on Sunday April 27th and/or Sunday May 4th that works, too! Both Sundays are also SCBWI volunteer days. The more volunteers the better!

If you just want to sign up to help SCBWI-MI and Bookstop, that’s great, as well. Our chapter will receive a donation for your volunteer hours. If you don’t sign up through us, please be sure to tell Bookstock you are an SCBWI-MI member so we can get credit for your time.

This is a great opportunity for SCBWI-MI to promote literacy programs, promote the amazing talent we have within our organization, and earn money for our chapter. For each of us, it is a great way to give back to our community, promote our work, and raise money for SCBWI-MI.

Bookstock is Detroit’s (and possibly the country’s) biggest used book and media sale. This event collects used books for resale to raise money for education and literacy programs. 2025 is their 21^st year in operation. They have raised over $3 million for literacy initiatives in Detroit and the surrounding areas.

Supporting the need to read

Bookstock is 100% volunteer driven. Last year, over 600 volunteers provided about 6,300 volunteer hours. The storage space, tables, and chairs are all donated.  400,000+ used books and media were for sale, most items were $3 or less.

The opening day of Bookstock is Sunday, April 27. They have a Presale event from 8:15-11:00 am. For an admission of $25, you can get first access to the best used books around. Starting at 11:00 am, Bookstock is open to the public at no charge. They continue to sell books with no admission fee Monday- Saturday 11:00am-7:00pm and Sunday May 4 from 11:00am-6:00pm.

They have special days throughout the week. On Tuesday, April 29^th and Wednesday. April 30^th from 2:00-7:00 pm teachers with a valid id get 50% off books. Thursday, May 1^st is Bookstock Loyalty Day. You can get 20% off your purchase if you bring a Bookstock bag from a previous year. Friday, May 2 and Saturday, May 3 are Pocket Paperback Palooza where you can get 15 pocket paperbacks for $10. And on the last day, Sunday May 4^th, all books and media are 50% off.

Where do the proceeds go?

The Bookstock Fund uses the money raised to fund many literacy programs in the Detroit area. They provide funding for: Microsoft Office Suite training for Detroit area adults, support book clubs, poetry slams, and classroom libraries. They provide scholarships for students at Wayne State University School of Library Sciences and Detroit Mercy. You can check out their grant guidelines and application here. The organization donates all leftover books to local non-profits.

How do I sign up to volunteer?

Sign up here. 

Molly David is Co-Communications Coordinator for SCBWI-MI. She founded Semper Grata (sempergrata.com) in 2022 to help families and educate communities on disability issues. Kirkus Review recommended her debut children’s picture book, My Mischievous Wheelchair, and featured it in their December 2023 magazine. It won a Firebird award and a Purple Dragonfly award in 2024. Molly understands the importance of all children seeing themselves in books. Molly is a highly regarded speaker on disability issues. Her book Planning for the Future: Protecting a Loved One with a Disability ranked fourth on Amazon. It is a guide for parents and caregivers on how to protect their children’s financial security. You can connect with Molly @mollydavidauthor.

Gratitude, Leadership, and a Call to Action from Isabel Estrada O'Hagin, the 2021 SCBWI Tribute Fund Awardee

This February, our Regional Advisors, Jodi McKay and Carrie Pearson, congratulated me on

being named the recipient of the 2021 SCBWI’s Tribute Fund Award. A complete surprise, I was

honored to receive this recognition and thought there were many others who deserved this

award. Being a volunteer means it’s a team effort and that someone else has been doing the

groundwork (more on this later) and for that I am grateful. Thank you, Michigan friends, for all

your well wishes posted on social media!

It’s been a joy to be a member of SCBWI and to serve as a volunteer. Getting the Equity & Inclusion Team off the ground in 2019 and serving as the Team Leader these past 18 months has been challenging yet rewarding. Some of the projects we worked on include the Members For Members

Scholarship Award, the Books With Barbers book drive, and the E & I Corner blog. Another aspect of my volunteer work has been to re-establish the Kalamazoo Area Shop Talks (KAST) with Melanie Bryce. We have enjoyed engaging our community and supporting our local members. 

Being part of the SCBWI-MI Leadership Team has been a real eye-opener, too. You probably already know this... it’s a group of super people who in their humility hide their masks and capes and the big “V” on their leotards. In all these roles one of my greatest joys is getting to know other people who love kidlit!

According to Carrie and Jodi, the SCBWI Tribute Fund commemorates members of the

children’s book community, their lives, and their work by funding all-expense scholarships to

the SCBWI International Summer and Winter Conferences for the general membership. The

nominations are made by the region and the awardees are determined by our headquarters. I

was fortunate to have been included in a group that includes volunteer extraordinaire, Charlie

Barshaw, who received this award in 2014.

From Charlie...

I began my journey with SCBWI in 2009, years after my wife, Ruth, went to a New York conference with an empty sketchbook and came back inspired to create Ellie McDoodle. Soon after I joined the

SCBWI-MI Advisory Committee (the former Ad Com) and helped to put together conferences. 

In 2011, Leslie Helakoski asked me to promote a program called “Networks Day,” when local

groups of SCBWI members would gather to network and get to know each other. In 2012, I

promoted it as “Your Area’s Got Talent,” and by January of 2013, writer Michelle Bradford

convinced me to work with her to create a monthly group in Lansing called the “Mid-Michigan

Meet Up.” In September of that year, former RA Ann Finkelstein took over to co-host our

meetings. Soon, other regions of the state formed their own “Meet-Ups” which over the years

morphed into “Shop Talks.”

In the intervening years I’ve helped run two conferences at Mackinac Island, and I’ve

interviewed editors, agents, illustrators and more writers, veteran and just-starting out, than

you can shake a pen at for The Mitten Blog. And I’ve met the kinds of generous and talented

people who populate SCBWI-MI. It was an honor to receive the Tribute Fund Award, but the

real honor has been working with the extraordinary creative talent here in Michigan.

Thank you for sharing your journey with us, Charlie. How many times have you heard that folks

in SCBWI-Michigan are a friendly, supportive bunch? Volunteering is a team sport. It is good

work that can leave you feeling satisfied to know you made a difference in supporting the

efforts of other creatives within our organization. Whether you’re an organizer, a presenter, an

educator, a tech-savvy guru, or an all-hands-on-deck volunteer, we all gain when we take the

time to lend a hand and become involved.

Take a minute to think about where your strengths lie and how you can share them with others

to make SCBWI Michigan a better team. Volunteer—find the time—the returns are great.

Will you join our team of volunteers? Let’s do some good work together!

Storyteller Isabel O’Hagin (Ph.D.), writing as Ysabel Estrada, has been a member of SCBWI since 2013. As a pre-published author, she writes stories steeped in Latino culture based in the southwest where she lived most of her life. She has written two middle-grade novels, several picture books and is currently working on a YA novel. In 2018 she was recognized as a runner-up in the SCBWI-MI Novel Mentorship Contest. Her publication credits include teacher education articles, book chapters in early childhood music, and serving as the editor for a state education journal.

SCBWI-MI welcomes new volunteers for ongoing and occasional needs! Read more and find a link to the volunteer form. 

Coming up on the Mitten Blog this summer:

A Writer Spotlight, Ask the Editor, E&I Corner, and our quarterly Hugs and Hurrahs! We want to trumpet your good news! To be included, please email your writing/illustrating/publishing news to Sarah LoCascio by June 8th.