Tennessee Post Offices Shredding Children's Books

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Tennessee Post Offices are shredding thousands of children’s books each month after USPS officials changed their policy enforcement procedures. The shredded books are part of the Governor’s Books from Birth Foundation program, which ships one free book a month to about 213,000 children in the state.

Foundation President Theresa Carl says on average two percent, or about 4,000 of the books are undeliverable each month. Carl says in the past local volunteers could pick up the undelivered books from the post office. She says,

“And then we donate those to HeadStart programs, childcare centers, hospitals, pediatricians’ offices and the like, and/or look for their rightful owner.”

USPS spokesperson Susan Wright says the foundation has several options for having the books returned, but they would involve higher postage rates for the organization. Carl says added postage costs would be a significant impairment for the program. She says for now they are trying to work out a different solution with USPS officials.