Empathy in the Face of Separation
In the summer of 2018, the crisis of family separations at the United States-Mexico border drew national attention. Watching stories of unaccompanied minors and children held in federal shelters, Kristin Stadum—daughter of Rodney and Kathy Stadum—sought a direct, tangible way to offer comfort to children undergoing severe trauma.
The campaign, named *2,000 Libros*, was founded in July 2018 by Kristin Stadum and Elizabeth Ballou, operating in partnership with D.C. Books to Prisons. The initiative arose from a simple observation: children in immigration shelters were facing isolation, fear, and a complete disruption of their daily lives. In TV news interviews, Kristin recalled the emotional catalyst for the project: "Thinking about these children all alone, and seeing the stories of teenagers taking care of toddlers, and just wondering how they were surviving and what I could do to help." For Kristin, books offered a small but powerful tool to restore a sense of childhood and security to children under stress.
The Logistics of a Living Room Book Drive
Operating out of her Washington, D.C. apartment, Kristin transformed her living space into a central shipping depot. Books were gathered through donations and targeted wishlists, focusing specifically on Spanish-language and bilingual volumes. In a video profile by *The Now*, Kristin demonstrated the hands-on sorting and packing process, packing boxes bound for shelters across the country. "We keep shipping them out as soon as we can," she explained, pointing to boxes destined for Yonkers, New York; Texas; and Illinois. She noted that children's favorites like *Captain Underpants* were "strangely popular."
Within weeks of launch, the campaign had collected and sorted nearly 1,300 books, eventually surpassing its original 2,000-book target. The logistics were grueling but rewarding, with shipments going directly to immigration shelters where children were being held. Because many of the children were eventually transferred or reunited with family members, the books were given to them to keep permanently, rather than remaining as shelter property.
Something to Call Their Own
The decision to make the books permanent gifts was central to the campaign's philosophy. For children who had fled violence, crossed borders, and been separated from their parents, almost every connection to their past had been severed. "They have already walked away from everything in their lives—their homes, their families, their cultures, their language," Kristin observed. "To have something to call their own is huge." A book became one of the few physical objects they could claim as their personal property, offering a portable source of familiarity and distraction.
The bilingual nature of the books also served a vital cultural purpose, validating the children's native language while providing a bridge to their new environment. Even as federal policies slowly shifted and children were reunited with families, Kristin pledged to continue the book drive. "We're going to send books as long as we get them in," she stated, emphasizing that unaccompanied minors remained in custody and required ongoing support.
A Broader Philosophy of Literacy and Justice
The *2,000 Libros* campaign was not an isolated project, but rather an extension of Kristin's long-term commitment to book access. In 2016, *The Washington Post* profiled her work with D.C. Books to Prisons, a volunteer organization that mails free books to incarcerated individuals across the United States. Through that work, Kristin had already spent years understanding how reading materials could serve as lifelines for people confined in restrictive systems. Whether sending books to adult prisoners in maximum-security facilities or bilingual paperbacks to migrant children in border shelters, Kristin's advocacy has centered on the belief that reading is a fundamental right and a medium of human connection. Her story, preserved in public news archives and podcast interviews, represents a powerful family legacy of carrying care and advocacy into public life.
