Harper's Corner - Expanding Minds & Growing Hearts

Harper’s Corner opens hearts and minds. Together, we want to shape a new depiction for all children— one that is inclusive and real.

Harper’s Corner is a grassroots, volunteer-driven effort founded by local parents committed to bringing positive change to our communities. We envision a world where diversity and inclusion exists, visibly, in every elementary school and library, year-round.

We create physical spaces in elementary school libraries and stock them with books promoting diversity and inclusion. Our spaces are called "Harper's Corner” and they serve as an opportunity to generate conversation, understanding, and respect among elementary-age children, educators and families.   .

Ultimately, our goal is to have a Harper's Corner book installation in all 171 central Ohio elementary schools. This would impact over 80,000 students, their families and educators, resulting in a more empathetic and inclusive community. The need is undeniable. We see the racial divide grow, pain deepen, and frustration mount every single day. Our children are seeing and feeling this too. Conversations with administrators and specialists across school districts have confirmed that our school libraries are lacking books focused on diversity. Diverse authors and stories are not represented. Now, more than ever, action must be taken. 

Today, we ask you to step into the next chapter with us. A chapter where diversity and inclusion is a reality in 15 schools throughout central Ohio. Our $20,000 milestone will be transformational. This goal means:

• Impacting 10,000 kids -and their families -by exposing them to an effective diversity and inclusion program year-round.
• A dedicated Harper’s Corner space in each of these schools’ libraries. This will be a place where kids can go, learn, and be exposed to diverse stories on a daily basis.
• Over 2,000 books to 15 schools that will have countless impact.

Our children are our hope and our future, when we open their minds – and hearts - we have the opportunity to write a new chapter. The reality is, we’re responsible for the world they take in and we can choose to foster more compassion by showing them a more diverse world. Your donation is more than one book, one library, one child; it’s a contribution to lasting change by rewriting education to be truly inclusive.

Let’s come together and make meaningful, actionable change.

How it started

It all started with one mom. A white parent of a young biracial child, Julia saw how racial biases have impacted her daughter Harper since she was born. In June 2020, deeply disturbed by the murder of George Floyd and growing divisiveness in our country, Julia knew she had a personal responsibility to create a better world for all children.  

Julia knew reading had a profound impact on her daughter, Harper, and saw how words enriched her curious minds. From there, the concept of diversity and inclusion book corners took shape. A key factor would be that these corners would be always available— not just during Black History or Heritage months. Feedback from local school boards and administrators confirmed the need and enthusiasm for Julia’s idea, and Harper’s Corner was born.

Harper’s Corner is a volunteer driven organization with no paid staff so that all donations go directly to support the mission. At the core of all Harper’s Corner does is our belief in building a greater understanding around and acceptance of differences that children may or may not experience in their day-to-day lives. We do this by building awareness and education around diversity and inclusion by donating age-appropriate children’s books to community elementary schools and libraries.

How it’s going & growing

Harper’s Corner curates a selection of age-appropriate children’s books focused on diversity and inclusion. Then, individual schools select titles the curated list of books to add to their libraries and incorporate into curriculum on diversity and inclusion.

As of yearend 2020, we have raised nearly $35,000 in financial and book contributions, enabling us to provide thousands of books to local elementary schools. To date, Harper's Corner has partnered with 59 elementary schools in ten school districts for the 2020-2021 school year, impacting 29,000 students. School librarians are working to incorporate Harper’s Corner books into both in-person and remote learning environments.

Additional funding will help bring more Harper's Corner books into schools already on our waiting list and will enable expansion into more central Ohio school districts.

Our incredible community has launched us to this point and we are immensely grateful. But, there remains a lot of work to be done. We need you to help us reach more schools to fulfill the growing demand so we can expand Harper's Corner.  

Our commitment to you is simple: every dollar you donate will create change.

Your gift will build a corner. A corner of understanding, safety, and where every child is seen, heard, and included.

Voice for change

Our community shows up daily to influence change. We have advocates in homes and schools, eager to ignite change at every level. Here’s what they have to say about Harper’s Corner:

"Thank you Harper's Corner, we are so appreciative of the books you have given to our library! It's so important to have books in students' hands that will ignite their interest in the broader world around them. The books that you have shared with us allow all our students to see themselves represented in literature and feel a part of our community at large. Thank you for broadening our students understanding of themselves, their peers, and the broader world" - Wickliffe Elementary