Photography by Victoria Gomez
“What about the books?” Kate Nordyke asked her mom.
It was a question prompted by Nordyke around the holidays where her mother, Angela, was working as a Dallas police offer during the annual Santa Cop Toy Drive. In 2015 at 8-years-old, Ursuline Academy student Nordyke was single-handedly opening a conversation.
Nordyke’s nonprofit, Kate’s Books, began with a story. Inspired by Nicola Yoon’s Everything Everything, a book about a girl allergic to the world, Nordyke found a way to make the book feel more personal.
“I read that when I was younger and felt a new perspective on life that I hadn’t really seen before,” Nordyke says. “I realized life is different for everybody.”
In March 2016, Nordyke answered her own question with a mission. She filed for a 501(c)(3) status for her nonprofit Kate’s Books. Her organization would provide new and gently used books to less fortunate children in the community. Nordyke reached out to local organizations like the Dallas Police Department, Dallas Public Libraries, schools and other nonprofits for support. Friends, family, and the community contributed.
Through those efforts, the first year saw around 500 books donated to Santa Cops.
“Every time I’ve given books to kids, they’re elated,” Nordyke says. “It feels like Christmas Day for them. One of my love languages is gift giving and it makes me so happy to see them lit with joy and happiness. It’s made me very grateful for what I do have.”
Kate’s Books began with book drives at her elementary and middle schools and has since expanded to include other schools. The organization partners with Refuge City, a nonprofit supporting victims of human trafficking, as well as Forest Slash, Delia Youth, boxing gyms, and recreation centers. In 2017, Kate’s Books collaborated with Dallas Public Libraries to set up a temporary library after Hurricane Harvey. Donations come from school libraries, friends, and the community, with requests also coming through their website and Facebook page.
Books are stored in Nordyke’s parents’ garage, and her mom has been a constant source of support, attending events, helping at donation drives, and driving Nordyke around Dallas for drop-offs.
“She’s really taken the reins and made it her own,” Angela says. “It’s been fun to watch the progression from my perspective as her parent.”
Nordyke collects 5,000 annually, totaling nearly 30,000 books since starting.
“Kate’s Books has been amazing, allowing me to serve my community,” Nordyke says. “It’s made me a better person, and it’s been wonderful to see others become better through it too.”
Now eight years later, a sophomore at Ursuline and two years from graduating, Nordyke believes the future of Kate’s Books is in its purpose: the community of readers that have surrounded the organization since the beginning.
“It’s made me feel more fulfilled and has been a way for me to serve my community which is really important to me. It’s made me a better person,” Nordyke says. “My life would be completely different without it.”
