Next Door’s Books for Kids mobile library parked near 833 E. Michigan St. Tuesday to collect books to distribute to local children at 12 early education sites throughout the city. For about two hours during lunch hour, visitors could stop by to donate children’s books.

Next Door provides early childhood education to more than 2,000 children from birth to 5 years old in the central city. Quality early education, along with adult education and family support, position children for success in school. Next Door’s Books for Kids program created the mobile library in 2016 to distribute free books to young children.

With three locations in the city, Next Door primarily serves families that are unable to offer educational resources at home. The Books for Kids program provides books so children can build their home libraries and read with their families. Students in the program are allowed to take home two free books a month when they participate in one-on-one reading sessions with volunteers. The program also hosts a weekly community library event where families are invited to come pick up books.