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When historic wildfires burned across Los Angeles earlier this year, L.A. high school teacher and young adult author Veronica Bane identified an issue that wasn’t being addressed — the loss of classroom libraries.

Bane, an English teacher at Alliance Susan & Eric Smidt Technology High School, drew from her deep belief in the power of reading to help students and teachers reclaim a sense of stability by launching a book drive to rebuild classroom and home libraries lost in the fires. 

Since her initial call for book donations on Threads and Bluesky only days after the wildfires started to spread, more than 14,000 new and gently used books have poured in from donors across the world. 

Teachers, parents and students can request books with no set deadline or expiration date. 

The book initiative has also drawn widespread recognition, including from Congressman Jimmy Gomez, who honored Bane for her dedication to rebuilding affected classrooms. Gomez even joined volunteers in sorting and distributing books to impacted families at one of the local events. 

A longtime educator with nearly 20 years of experience, Bane has also been part of the literary world since 2019, first as a ghostwriter and now as a debut author with a YA novel, “Difficult Girls,” set to release this summer. The writing community, which has long supported Bane’s work, quickly rallied behind her mission. Notable writers, including Veronica Roth, Emily A. Craig, Dahlia Adler and Julian Winters, contributed books and advanced copies to help restore classroom collections. 

Bane spoke with digital producer Trinity Alicia about the book drive initiative, the role of reading in times of natural disaster and how books can serve as powerful tools for healing and restoration.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

How did the book drive idea come to life? I’m curious about some of the conversations you may have had with others and even yourself — and how they shaped the idea.

My husband and I dropped off some necessities at different donation sites, and once those core essentials were taken care of, my mind immediately went to the teachers. I saw all these pictures of schools that had burned down … and now, those libraries are gone. I thought about my students, especially the kids who come into my classroom at lunch to read. Their books are their prized possessions, and I couldn’t help but wonder how they would feel if those sources of comfort were suddenly taken away.

While others were doing an amazing job meeting essential needs, I realized this could be a place where I could make a difference. I was about 2.8 miles from the nearest evacuation zone so beyond being nervous for our own home — there was a tense night where we thought we might need to evacuate — I knew that this was something I could do right now.

I posted my first initial post on Threads and Bluesky shortly after the wildfires started and said if anyone had lost books, we would get them books and to not worry because the offer didn’t expire. It started gaining some initial traction, and someone suggested creating a Google form. I thought, “as a teacher teacher, I love a Google form!” So, I made one and when I woke up, it had around 100,000 views. 

I nudged my husband and said, “Hey, so our house is about to become box city,” and he’s honestly been my first recruit in this process, helping me make deliveries, sort the books and even going with me to the post office to get book donations. 

When I needed a classroom library, I created a project on Donors Choose and the first person to donate was a young adult author. The writing and author community has been incredibly supportive of me … sending advance copies of books and whatever extra books they had around. It allowed me to build out a library for my students, giving them the resources they desperately needed. I knew that if I reached out this time, this community would show up for these teachers and readers, just as they have for me and my students for years.

How has the process been since receiving book donations?

The response has been quite a far reach, much farther than I was expecting. I’ve gotten multiple books and boxes from overseas like Australia, so that’s been really cool. It’s been quite a far reach, way farther than I was expecting. I thought only a handful of LA authors I knew would show up, but they came in a big way. I didn’t expect my P.O. box to be literally overrun, but I’m very happy that it is. I’ve been trying to manage the volume as best as I can.

Some teachers … have told me they’re retiring in June and asked if they could give their classroom libraries to someone when they retire. So far, we’ve distributed over 14,000 book donations.

We’ve been accepting books for all ages. For example, there was a preschool that burned down, and we dropped off three big boxes just to get them started, with plans to bring more. Those boxes primarily contained picture books and early chapter books. 

I believe so strongly in literacy and in getting kids a variety of books — whether it’s a portal into a different world or a character going through tough times like they are. 

When I first started teaching, I’d get boxes of classic literature, and while I love the classics, I know that handing a kid a book like “War and Peace” won’t help them love reading. I wanted students to have books that made them say, “Yeah, this is something I can do.” This was the same route I took with curating donations for teachers and classrooms across LA.

In your experience, how do books and reading provide stability and normalcy during chaotic times, especially for young people who may feel displaced due to the fires?

I remember looking at the books I read when my mom passed away. I’ve held onto some of the books in my personal library because there are memories attached to books. A book is a small yet significant thing that serve as anchors of what your life had before then you get to then rebuild around. It’s not going to feel normal for a long time, but I hope we’re giving people those anchors through these books. It’s not about the material things; it’s about giving them that comfort and sense of normalcy.

What has been the most rewarding part of running this book drive? Have you connected with any specific individuals or families that made this experience feel particularly impactful?

One of the best things has been seeing how many people are willing to come together and support each other … I knew I wouldn’t fully understand the grief that others were experiencing … I hadn’t lost my home or my school, but I knew I could be there for them … to help them get through it. Whether I’m sending one book for comfort or three boxes of books, I just want them to know this is one thing they don’t have to worry about and that we’ll take care of it.

There was one teacher I dropped off boxes for, and she just asked if she could hug me. Then she gave me cookies, and I thought, “That’s such a teacher thing to do.” She was taking the cookies to families in the neighborhood, and it made me feel grateful to be a teacher and to be in education. 

The idea of “resilience” often comes up in disaster recovery. How do you see literacy and books playing a role in building resilience for young readers in these communities? 

I teach in an area where over 90% of my students qualify for free or reduced lunch, and many of them are going to be the first in their families to go to college. The topic of resilience comes up a lot, and I’ve often been asked how I teach my students resilience and grit. The truth is, my students don’t need to be taught resilience. They have been resilient their entire lives and have faced challenges I can’t even imagine. 

If anything, they’ve taught me resilience, and I’m in awe of how they continue to persevere. When this situation happened I thought of the students in my classroom reading books after everything they’ve gone through, finding an escape. Some of my kids don’t get enough sleep because they don’t have a bedroom, and some work multiple jobs late into the night before coming to a full school schedule. These are the kids who disappear into books. 

Congratulations on your debut novel coming out! How do you balance civic duties as an author and a teacher?

Everything that had seemed so important with the book just didn’t feel as important anymore in light of everything else going on. It’s not that the book isn’t important to me — I’m incredibly excited and proud of it, but it’s had to take a backseat to this work because … this is the most vital and urgent. I’m so grateful for the way people have been responding, and it’s been overwhelming in the best way.

What does teaching reading in Los Angeles mean to you? 

One of my proudest moments came when a former student messaged me after seeing someone post about the book drive. They wanted to donate, saying, “Your class is the one that made me love reading, so I want to pass this on.” I was so happy. But I know that wouldn’t have happened without a library, without books to choose from. If they don’t have access to those books, they don’t build that confidence. 

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