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Charnice Milton Community Bookstore

East of the River’s Only Used Bookstore

Used books at pop-up locations and free libraries, plus on-line via Biblio.com.

New books thru WeLuvBooks Bookshop

Tough on crime? Tough on literacy!

Used, New Books

Due to pandemic and other economic changes, used book sales at Busboys and Poets are suspended. Free books still offered at We Act Radio and around Ward 8. Look for new pop-ups and learn more about our Free Libraries

Free Libraries
Free library at MLK & Malcolm X, SE
  • MLK and Malcolm X avenues, SE
  • Marvin Gaye Park, Minn. & Nannie Helen Burroughs
  • Good Hope & Naylor roads, SE
  • 1333 Congress Street SE
  • COMING SOON: Penn & 13th, SE — Washington Teachers Union
More on CMCB’s Free Libraries
Bookshop Lists
A few of our lists at Bookshop.org

WeLuvBooks recommendations, We Act Radio authors, and more at available thru Bookshop.org. Proceeds feed our literacy oasis and book-related events.


Books and Poverty

The last U.S. Census reported 43% of Ward 8’s children living in poverty, with 32.9% poverty overall (graphic below.) In nearby Ward 7, the rates were 40% for children, 26.9% overall.

32.9% poverty for Ward 8 overall, 43% for children

Children living in poverty…

  • have fewer books at home, often none;
  • have fewer books in their neighborhoods;
  • see fewer bookstores;
  • experience inferior classroom and school libraries.
Literacy and Crime

“There is a connection between literacy rates, high school dropout rates, and crime… poor reading skills are connected with unfavorable life outcomes,” says Reading Partners report.

“You give children books, they do better,”

Steven Kashen, professor emertus, education and linguistics, USC

As CMCB began, an NYU study found: “[In] Anacostia, 830 children would have to share a single age-appropriate book…”

Read more about “book access” and links between illiteracy, crime, and violence.

Charnice A. Milton

Reading and writing were crucial to Charnice A. Milton (June 18, 1987 – May 27, 2015). Books were refuge and companion throughout her life. As a journalist, Charnice used writing to serve the community in which she was raised.

Her murder remains unsolved. She is missed. CMCB is grateful to Charnice’s family for their support. More about Charnice.

More books in the landscape: Since CMCB launched, two new bookstores opened nearby: Mahogany, around the corner, specializes in new books from the Black diaspora; BBP-Anacostia, one block south, highlights social justice reading.

About Us

CMCB is a project of Social Art And Culture (SAAC), a DC-based 501(c)3 non-profit, and grateful to Politics and Prose, one of DC’s oldest bookstores, for launch support.

More About Us

Press

Get In Touch

Questions@Weluvbooks.org
(888) 772-7448

More Ways to Get In Touch

Please check current pandemic restrictions for in-person visits.

Drop By

1918 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, SE (We Act Radio)

Little Free Library at corner of MLK & Malcolm X, SE

CMCB is located on Nacotchtank/Anacostan land.

Direction and Maps