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Our Story

Letterbox Library, first meeting

An idea was born...

Two like-minded, single mums got together for a chat. They were concerned about the children's books available to their daughters. Very few reflected their family lives and just as few showed girls in exciting, active roles. An idea was born...but after sharing their thoughts with their friends, they realised the idea needed to get bigger. The children's books available on the UK high street simply weren't reflecting most people's lives.

And then it all began...

In 1983, in a front room in Hackney, these same two women set up a book club specialising in anti-sexist and multicultural children's books. The first Letterbox Library catalogue had 16 books to choose from!

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Where we are now...

Over the years, Letterbox Library has grown, developed and flourished. We now have a mini warehouse, a small office staff team, a wide group of volunteers, a vast range of book suppliers in the UK and overseas and over 300 titles listed  on our website. Our books celebrate equality, diversity and inclusion across the board and you'll find them in schools, nurseries, children's centres, libraries, charities and homes throughout the UK. We have become famous for our stringent selection procedure which has secured our reputation as a key supplier to the education sector and has kept us popular with parents and carers!
 

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