Third Place Books launches new literary foundation

Photo by Steven H. Robinson

Third Place Books announces the launch of the Third Place Books Literary Foundation, a new and expanded effort to cultivate lifelong readers throughout greater Seattle by ensuring access to books and meaningful experiences with authors.

The Third Place Books Literary Foundation is the new community arm of Third Place Books, meant to enhance and diversify the work of the store's Books to Students Fund. During the first lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Third Place created the Books to Students Fund to help students access books for free while schools and school libraries were shut down.

Following a public call for donations, the Fund raised over $30,000 within three months and has been gifting books to students and schools ever since.

During the recent 2025-26 school year, the Fund donated over 1,700 books to more than 40 schools and community organizations in the Seattle metropolitan area. The Fund also supported over 90 author visits to schools in the Seattle metropolitan area during that same time.

Author event at Third Place Books
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

The Third Place Books Literary Foundation will increase the reach, diversity of programming, and fundraising abilities of the store's community outreach programming, including book donation programs to low-income schools and organizations supporting literary initiatives in the Seattle metro area; free author events held in the bookstore and at schools and community hubs that connect readers directly with authors; and book fairs for local schools and community organizations.

In the 2026-2027 school year, the Literary Foundation has set a goal to donate over 4000 books.

"Bringing the magic that happens in our stores of connecting books with readers and readers with their favorite authors beyond the walls of our physical locations is a very exciting project for us," says Robert Sindelar, Third Place Books Co-owner and Managing Partner.

"Building community for us has always started with bringing people together around the exchange of ideas and the written word ensuring access to books is a critical part of the process."

Foundation programming and outreach will be managed by Becky Walsh, Community Outreach Manager for Third Place Books. Walsh has worked full-time for Third Place Books since September of 2025, returning to a career working in bookstores. Her work at Third Place Books comes after several years traveling around the globe including three years spent organizing events for a large housing charity in London.

"The launch of the Foundation feels like it is coming at just the right time," says Walsh.

"Spending this past year working with educators, authors and community organizers, has been extremely important. I've seen first-hand the impact of what we were able to do with the Books to Students Fund, and know we can do more for our community to ensure access to books and to the authors that write them. I am excited for how much more we will be able to do following this launch, with the support of the public."

The Foundation website is www.tpbfoundation.com. The Third Place Literary Foundation is fiscally sponsored by Third Place Commons. Third Place Commons is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization meaning all donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Founded in 1998 in Lake Forest Park, Washington, Third Place Books is dedicated to the creation of a community around books and the ideas inside them. With locations in Lake Forest Park and Seattle's Ravenna and Seward Park neighborhoods, Third Place Books is a Pacific Northwest institution hosting nearly 300 author events annually.