BookGive Looks Forward to Next Chapter Following BookBar Closure

By Eric Heinz

Nonprofit BookGive is aiming to continue fueling minds within the former gas station it turned into a headquarters.

As its partner BookBar will close in January, Melissa Monforti, the executive director of BookGive, said the nonprofit will continue to operate at its location and provide programs.

“Of course it’s going to change some things because we have depended on that income. The BookBar supports BookGive with 10% of book sales, and so that’s going to be a chunk,” Monforti said. “We share a community of book lovers in the North Denver area. And so those folks who shop BookBar, our hope is that they will want to continue to support BookGive and the philanthropic work we do.”

The name is in the actions of BookGive, which offers free books to anyone seeking one. They have also been seeking corporate sponsorship to continue hosting free community events.

Monforti said when BookGive started in 2020, it diversified its funding sources, and there is an active donor group. Because it’s a newer nonprofit, she said it is hard to get significant grant funding.

“BookGive’s philosophy is that book ownership is actually a very important part of the kinds of things we want to see happen,” Monforti said. “We want to see kids have higher grades, we want to see them enjoy learning.” She said the nonprofit’s financial situation is “not drastic,” but some of its aspirations may take longer to achieve.

Emblematic of that is Mavis, a bright orange but broken-down van sitting outside the station that the nonprofit used to use for deliveries.

“She is old and not really road-worthly, and she is parked here because she is not easy to maintain and not efficient to drive around,” Monforti said. “But we did open the free book room in September and we have volunteers staffing it.”

The next giveaway event is noon-2 p.m. Dec. 10 at the station. The intent is to also acquire books to offset BookGive’s expenses. BookGive’s regular hours are 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, as well as every second and fourth Saturday.