About Us
Our Mission
The mission of the Murphy Family Literacy Foundation is to promote literacy by providing books to schools and community organizations throughout the United States.
Our Vision
We envision a world in which every child has access to books and literacy is achieved for all people.
Our Programs
- Classroom Bookshelf Initiative: Providing classroom sets of books to teachers (Apply here)
- Community-Based Initiative: Giving Books to community centers, Little Free Libraries, and other community organizations (COMING SOON)
- Girl Scout and Boy Scout Literacy Support: Providing books needed for literacy projects carried out for Girl Scout Gold Award and Boy Scout Eagle Scout Projects (COMING SOON)
Who We Are
"We're a family of book lovers who love to help teachers. That pretty much sums it up."
The Murphy Family Literacy Foundation got its start as a pledge to help fund a new warehouse for an online bookstore, which is now called Storybags. Our supporters donated to help us, and in return, we donated a classroom set of books to teachers who need them. Its wide success was an indication that people want to help just as much as we do.
Dr. Ericka Harney-Murphy is a non-profit professional and has extensive experience in the non-profit sector. Between her expertise and Greg's more than 10 years' worth of experience working with books, it was only a matter of time before they put their heads together to create this foundation.
The littlest Murphy, Sydney, is the proud Vice President of Bookmarks. You may never meet a kid who loves books more than her, but we certainly hope to inspire that level of passion for reading in kids and adults throughout the U.S.
What We Do
Almost everyone we know has had a teacher that has inspired them or made a major impact on their life, us included. We wanted to thank teachers, somehow, for taking the time to educate our tiny tots during the most important developmental years of their lives.
When we learned that teachers spend an average of $1,000 a year on classroom supplies, we decided that if there's one thing they shouldn't have to buy, it's books, and we have access to a lot of books.
We developed a simple method to get books to teachers without having to go through waiting periods and paperwork. Teachers answer some quick and easy questions about their classroom and we send them books based on their needs totally free of charges and fees.
Our goal for 2021 is to donate 1,00 classroom sets to teachers in Ohio.
Our goal for 2022 is to donate 10,000 classroom sets to teachers all over the country.
How We Do It
Our online bookstore, called Storybags, is a key element to making this happen.
Storybags is our online bookstore, only the books come in assorted bundles, making the book-buying experience unique and, we think, meaningful. It makes buying books for yourself easy and adventurous without having to leave the house.
Storybags donates a portion of their sales and all of the classroom sets. That's how we cover shipping and acquire the books.
So the only thing teachers really need to do is tell us what to send and where to send them.
Volunteer