Street Books

Mission

Street Books is a street library committed to providing connection, community, resources, and advocacy for people living outside or at the margins in Portland, Oregon. We cultivate mutual relationships rooted in dignity and autonomy by showing up every week, year after year, in all kinds of weather, all around the city, to meet people where they are.

Bottom Line for Portland

At Street Books, we engage in conversations about books and life, lend books and provide support with no fees or fines and no need for an ID or address. We offer good books, reading glasses, harm reduction and other survival supplies along with friendly librarians who know our patrons’ names and reading preferences. Patrons find their interests and lives reflected in all that we offer. We engage our whole community, work for solutions, and challenge harmful narratives and systems. We believe that it is vital to include the stories, ideas, and voices of people who have experienced houselessness in creating any effective solution to ending houselessness.

Quote

“I was living outdoors when I first found Street Books, and I checked out maybe three books a week. I probably got over 50 books that first season. I’d sit down at the waterfront on that bench and pass the time of day. It really, really beats sitting around doing nothing, and it most definitely beats sitting around feeling bad.” --Ben Hodgson, board member, librarian, patron, author.

“Street Books has helped me stay clean and sober for more than 3 years. It is a positive activity and I’m helping my community. Now I get paid and have a regular shift every Friday.” --Kerry Robison, longtime library patron and Street Books street librarian for 2 years.

“One of the single best ideas I’ve seen in this town.” --Author Omar El Akkad (What Strange Paradise and American War)

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Street Books is committed to the pursuit of equity—both internally and in the world at large—by fighting for systemic change together with those most affected by the violence of poverty. We are part of a growing movement in Portland working toward building a community where all people belong and are known, where everyone has access to safety, and the resources to thrive. We believe housing is a human right, and we support community organizing to work toward systemic change that will support this right. We believe in the transformative capacity of books, both for the individual and collective. Books offer access to ideas, education, and liberation.

Incentives

*All donations at all levels will be matched 1:1 up to $30,000 by a generous group of donors. A $100 donation will grow to $200 and $10 becomes $20! Help us meet our match - thank you!

*All donations through the Give!Guide will receive a certificate for a free, used book of their choice from the selection available at Street Books mini-bookstore located inside KISS coffee on NE Ainsworth.

*The first 300 donors with a $30 or greater donation will be offered a $5 gift card to Up Up Books in SE Portland.  

*All donations of $100 or greater throughout the campaign will be offered a signed copy of Loaners: The Making of a Street Library, a book about the creation of Street Books!

*On 11/1 the first 8 donors who give $50 or more will be offered a $20 Annie Bloom's Books Gift Card.

*On Giving Tuesday (12/3) Street Books board member, Pulitzer finalist, MacArthur Award winner, and local, beloved author, Karen Russell, will sign, inscribe and mail a copy of her brand new novel, The Antidote, when it is released in 2025 for the first 5 people who give a $300 donation or greater. And for the first ten donors who donate $100-$299 on Giving Tuesday, Karen will mail a signed copy of one of her books of your choice. Important Note: The Antidote will be inscribed and mailed upon its release in March of 2025. Karen will reach out to donors for requested inscriptions at that time.

Partner(s)

Thank you to Dos Corazones Fund and all of the generous, wonderful donors providing a matching gift for this campaign. We appreciate you! Many warm thanks to Karen Russell, Up Up Books, Annie Blooms Books, KISS Coffee, Oregon Humanities, Blanchet House, SMART Reading, X-RAY FM, Gather:Make:Shelter, Sisters of the Road, Ground Score Association, Portland Street Medicine, Street Roots, Call to Safety,  Portland Community Football Club, and Cedar Mill & Bethany Community Libraries for generously partnering with Street Books for the 2024 Give!Guide and for all you do for our communities!