Letterbox Library Homepage

Who We Are

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!

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!

Our Aims

Letterbox Library is committed to celebrating equality, diversity and inclusion in the very best children's books. We believe that challenging stereotypes and discrimination should play a fundamental part in every child's education and that we all, as adults, share a collective responsibility for making each and every child feel valued, regardless of their background or abilities.

Our children's books:

- are inclusive; we specialise in bringing you children's books in which all children can see themselves and which reflect our world community in all of its diversity
- feature people traditionally under-represented in children's literature- e.g.: different faith groups, refugees and migrants, disabled children, LGBTQ+ people and diverse families
- challenge negative stereotypes, including sexist, racist and homophobic stereotypes
- promote ideas of social justice
- explore personal and social issues such as family break up, illness, bereavement, bullying, global citizenship, the environment.

Expert Selection and Quality

We search for the best children's titles from a huge range of UK and overseas publishers, including independent and charity sector publishers. Many of our titles are not easily available elsewhere.

Every book we sell has been approved by our expert, independent team of 20-25 volunteer readers who include teachers, librarians, early years staff, childminders, parents and, of course, children themselves.

All of our books have been chosen for their equality, diversity and inclusion as well as their excellence in storyline/artwork and their strong child-appeal.

We are passionate about resisting commercial trends. We want to offer children real choices in what they read

Benefits of Letterbox Library

- Letterbox Library brings you inclusive, high quality and original books which meet key educational goals for early years providers and schools.
- Our rigorous selection process saves you time and money.
- You can be confident that you are choosing from the best and most recent children's books available.
- We are committed to providing you with ethical, high quality and honestly priced products.
- We reward customer loyalty with generous discounts.
- Co-operative and Ethical.

Letterbox Library is a not-for-profit social enterprise and a co-operative. Co-operatives are based on the values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. Co-operative members believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility, and caring for others.

Contact Details

Letterbox Library
Unit 151 Stratford Workshops
Burford Road, Stratford
London
E15 2SP
Tel: 020 8534 7502
Fax: 020 8555 7880
Twitter: @LetterboxLib
Email: info@letterboxlibrary.com