Free USA 250-Themed Book Sets for California Public Libraries

In partnership with the California State Library, the California Library Association is pleased to offer free USA 250-themed books to all California public libraries to support library collection development.

In recognition of the United States Semiquincentennial, the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, this year’s book sets will feature titles for children and teens that center on events, individuals, and stories connected to the history of United States and to the journey toward achieving the ideals and aspirations set forth, for all.  Below is a list of the selected titles. 

About the Book Sets:

• A book set will be provided for each of your library outlets.

• Each set will include approximately 26 children’s and teen titles (contingent on publisher availability).

• All sets will be shipped to one central mailing address per jurisdiction. Libraries are asked to distribute the sets to their individual outlets.

• Books are provided to support collection development and may not be used as giveaways.

• LSTA acknowledgement stickers will be mailed separately and should be affixed to the books.

How to Order:

This opportunity closed February 17th, 2026. For interested California libraries who may have missed this opportunity, please contact CLA’s Youth and Family Team at youthandfamily@cla-net.org.

Explore the 2026 USA 250-Themed Book Set Titles:

Grades K-2

• Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez, by Kathleen Krull and Yuyi Morales

• Dancing Hands: How Teresa Carreño Played the Piano for President Lincoln, by Margarita Engle and Rafael López

• Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., by Doreen Rappaport and Bryan Collier

• Her Right Foot, by Dave Eggers and Shawn Harris

• All the Way to the Top: How One Girl’s Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything, by Annette Bay Pimentel and Nabi Ali

• Blue Sky White Stars, by Sarvinder Naberhaus and Kadir Nelson

• Our Flag Was Still There: The True Story of Mary Pickersgill and the Star-Spangled Banner, by Jessie Hartland

Grades 3-5

• I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark, by Debbie Levy and Elizabeth Baddeley

• Your Vote Matters: How We Elect the U.S. President, by Rebecca Katzman and Ellen Duda

• A Kids’ Guide to the American Revolution, by Kathleen Krull and Anna DiVito

• Twenty-One Steps: Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, by Jeff Gottesfeld and Matt Tavares

• We Are Still Here!: Native American Truths Everyone Should Know, by Traci Sorell and Frane Lessac

Grades 6-8

• An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People, by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Jean Mendoza, and Debbie Reese

• Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream, by Tanya Lee Stone

• Rebellion 1776, by Laurie Halse Anderson

• Finish the Fight!: The Brave and Revolutionary Women Who Fought for the Right to Vote, by Veronica Chambers

• An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793, by Jim Murphy

• The Great American Dust Bowl, by Don Brown

• Bite by Bite: American History Through Feasts, Foods, and Side Dishes, by Marc Aronson, Paul Freedman, and Toni D. Chambers

• How We Got to the Moon: The People, Technology, and Daring Feats of Science Behind Humanity’s Greatest Adventure, by John Rocco

• Seen and Unseen: What Dorothea Lange, Toyo Miyatake, and Ansel Adams’s Photographs Reveal about the Japanese American Incarceration, by Elizabeth Partridge and Lauren Tamaki

• Nuestra América: 30 Inspiring Latinas/Latinos Who Have Shaped the United States, by Sabrina Vourvoulias

Grades 9-12

• March Book One, by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell

• The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights, by Steve Sheinkin

• Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race, by Margot Lee Shetterly

• Women Heroes of the American Revolution: 20 Stories of Espionage, Sabotage, Defiance, and Rescue, by Susan M. Casey

Youth and Family Book Clubs & Book to Action is a program of the California Library Association, supported in whole or in part by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian.