Book Bonanza boosts reading on the Forgotten Coast
Olivia from the Apalachicola Bay Charter School holds her collection of summer reading. [ BMABFC | Contributed ]
Even the little ones at Davis Child Development Center received books. [ BMABFC | Contributed ]
Students at Franklin County Elementary compare the books they received at Book Boinanza. [ BMABFC | Contributed ]
Bring Me A Book Forgotten Coast’s signature end-of-school-year giveaway, Book Bonanza, put free, self-selected books into the hands of more than 1,400 elementary school students in Franklin and Gulf counties.
The 2025 late spring distributions totaled 5,650 books impacting 1,412 children at four books per student. In addition to the public elementary schools’ students in grades pre-Kindergartent through fifth, children in Early Head Start, Head Start, and Davis Early Learning Center and homeschoolers were included.
“We’re fighting ‘summer slide’ and nurturing a love of reading,” said Karen Kessel, program coordinator for Bring Me A Book. “Consistent reading at home, supported by Book Bonanzas, develops early language and communication skills proven essential for long-term academic success.”
The first Book Bonanza was held in Franklin County in 2023 with a Duke Energy Foundation grant. Additional grants from Duke Energy, St. Joe Community Foundation, and Beatitudes Foundation enabled expansion to both Franklin and Gulf counties in 2024 and 2025.
Formerly Bring Me a Book Franklin, the program is now called Bring Me a Book Forgotten Coast reflecting the long-standing service area that has included Gulf County. The organizational status (501(c)(3)) and mission remain unchanged. Bring Me A Book Forgotten Coast hopes to continue county-wide coverage with at least four books per elementary student in 2026.
If interested in volunteering, please email karen_kessel@yahoo.com
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.