(upbeat music) - Brain Food Books believes access to books offers a broader perspective, hope and a safe place for children everywhere.

Executive director Calvin Crosby is here to tell us more about the organization.

Hi Calvin.

Welcome and welcome back to Salt Lake.

So tell, what's the history of this?

How did you start this?

- So, 10 years ago, Dr. Barbara Bean, who was a longtime reader of the King's English, came up with the idea to put new books into the hands of kids when they went to their wellness checkups on the West Side.

So two years ago, I came back as the co-owner of the King's English Bookshop and in a random conversation with Barbara, she said, well, what are some of your plans?

And I said, well, coming back to Utah, I'm from Magna, and I want to be able to give back and I want, I know how much books have enriched my life so I'm trying to figure out how to do a non-profit that can do that work.

So it turns out she was in the process of wanting to close her non-profit.

So we were able to conspire together.

And now I'm the executive director for Brain Food Books.

We've expanded our reach using the leverage of the Kings English workshop with publishers to bring authors into schools and for bulk buy-in and stuff.

So there's some efficiencies in being able to get into the clinics.

We're still doing the clinic work as well.

But 10 years ago, going into West Side Clinics.

- What a great idea.

And so what kind of books do you get into the hands of kids?

Everything I would guess - Everything.

And we're targeting a little bit for the work we're doing at the reservation in Tuba City.

So we're trying to really be conscious of more native and authors, creators and good non-fiction.

What we find though, though we pride ourselves as book sellers as good curators, the need and the hunger for books is so great that it's not hard.

It's not hard to get a good selection into any of the clinics, to the shelters, to the schools.

- Well, what a great thing you do.

I'm so glad you're doing it.

Thanks so much for being here.

Thank you.

- Welcome.

- And if you would like to know more about that program, Brain Food Books, it gets books to children, go to brainfoodbooks.org.

brainfoodbooks.org.

I'm Mary Dickson, thanks for watching Contact.

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Hi, I'm Mary Dickson.

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