For many years, at 826 Valencia and McSweeney’s, we’ve collected startlingly great publications from youth writing centers around the world. But there has never been a physical space where they’re displayed, and we thought there should be such a space. When the storefront at 849 Valencia opened up, we saw an opportunity.
Welcome to The International Library of Youth Writing, where the collected work of young people from all over the globe, ages 6-18, finds its first home. There are anthologies, chapbooks, graphic novels, and all kinds of other books here, including full-length novels written by middle schoolers. They’re displayed according to their location and the nonprofit sponsoring them.
Chapter 510, for example, is a writing center in Oakland, and they’ve generously donated a bunch of copies of their books, all written by authors under age 18. There are books by students from Italy, Australia, Louisville, Sacramento, Dublin, Stockholm, and dozens of cities in between.
At the moment, the library is in its pop-up stage, but in the next two months, we will be expanding it to encompass most of the building at 849 Valencia. Refugee Eye, a gallery run by our friend Lara Aburamadam, will continue to mount shows in the space, too. We invite visitors to come and see the current iteration of the library and to help us dream of its expansion.
To help cover the costs of the expansion, we’re offering a series of prints by Dave Eggers. All of these prints were hand-pulled by Eggers in the new printmaking studio in the basement of the same building—849 Valencia. All proceeds go to the library. We will add more over time, at irregular and seemingly random intervals.
The space is free and open to the public five days a week (Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 6 p.m.) and is available for school field trips. Youth writing workshops and other events will be added to the calendar in 2025. Young writers are encouraged to drop off copies of their own books and zines for the public to peruse in the reading room. The space will also be open to all as a study space and writing lab. The library aims to celebrate young authors and artists and cultivate new Bay Area audiences to appreciate their work.
Some of the books on display are for sale. Most are available for browsing, and we’ve set up comfortable chairs, couches, and pillows so visitors can stay and read in a quiet and inspiring place. We hope you’ll enjoy browsing and that you’ll be astounded by the breadth of work created by young writers, and the exceptional quality of these publications.
About that quality: When we started 826 Valencia back in 2002, we made a conscious decision to publish student work in high-quality paperbacks and even hardcover editions. In this way, we believed—and still believe—we can better honor the writing of young people. We also help students create chapbooks and easier-to-make publications, but our concentration has always been on holding students to professional standards and publishing their work in a professional way.
The human chorus is incomplete without the voices of young people, and this library is a step toward making sure these voices are heard and honored, and even when these authors grow up, that what they thought and felt and believed as young authors is never forgotten.
For more information or media inquiries, contact library@thehawkinsproject.org.
— Dave Eggers & Ninive Calegari, Co-founders of 826 Valencia
Bita Nazarian, Executive Director of 826 Valencia
Jade Howe, Curator of the International Library of Youth Writing
Amanda Uhle, former Executive Director of 826 Michigan and current Publisher of McSweeney’s