A former teacher is rebuilding Altadena one book at a time

After being forced to evacuate her Altadena home in recent weeks due to the Eaton Fire, 27-year-old former preschool teacher Carmela Beyer decided to support her community by launching a fundraiser for children’s books. A lifelong Pasadena resident, Beyer’s GoFundMe campaign, has already raised more than $40,000. 

“I don’t want to make a disaster relief fund. I want to make an organization that can be there to listen to the community’s needs, to listen to the children’s needs in the years to come as we rebuild. There really isn’t an end goal on donations. I hope to stay partnered with schools that need funding, supplies or volunteers,” said Beyer. “I love this community and I want to be able to help as much as I can.”

 “I felt this need to stay connected to my community through what I know best: taking care of the kids.”

Beyer plans to purchase books from the independent bookstore Octavia’s Bookshelf and distribute them primarily to the five Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) schools destroyed by the fire, including Altadena Arts Magnet, Aveson Charter School, Loma Alta Elementary, and Noyes (Aveson) Elementary School. She’s also working with the Pasadena Education Foundation to help distribute books to families.

“I live on the same block as Aveson and I realized that if my home burned down and their school was still standing, they would be helping me,” Beyer said. “I felt this need to stay connected to my community through what I know best: taking care of the kids.”

Her connection to PUSD also comes through her father, who is a teacher in the district, enabling her to coordinate directly with the affected schools.

“I know from my personal experience when I was a kid, reading was not only my way to disconnect from the world and have my own private space, but it was also a way for me to connect to the world,” Beyer said. “Books taught me how other people live and how to think for myself, so I think that’s one of the most important things we can do for our kids. Give them access to critical thinking skills.”

Beyer isn’t working on these efforts alone. In addition to the donations she’s received through GoFundMe, she has a team of volunteers helping her sort through donated books and organize the entire process. Zoe Ray Travis, 33, is one of those volunteers. She lives in Los Feliz and works in TV development and production. She first heard of Carmela’s efforts on social media in an Instagram post. Travis has gone to Carmela’s storage space Downtown and helped sort books through categories that will eventually make it easy for families to build back their personal libraries. 

“I wanted to volunteer because I’m really passionate about books and accessibility of books especially for kids and I have friends who lost their homes in the fires,” Travis said. “A friend of mine lost his home [in the Eaton Fire] and has a 5-year-old son. I really think it’s important for us to be looking out for each other right now, and particularly kids because they may not understand what happened. So I think any bright spot we can give them is great.”  

Travis added she thinks these efforts are important because books help kids build their imagination. Two years ago, she started a Little Free Library in Los Feliz on Ambrose Avenue, between Hillhurst Avenue and Rodney Drive, for anyone to take a book to read or leave one for others.

“I think when the world is really scary and unpredictable, books can provide a portal to somewhere else and an escape,” Travis said. 

Travis plans to continue volunteering with Beyer and other local organizations providing relief to fire survivors in the weeks to come.

A portion of the funds raised will be allocated to teachers to help replace curriculum books and textbooks. In addition to monetary contributions, Beyer is also accepting donations of new or gently used books that are suitable for children in grades K-12 and considered classic library staples.

“The people in my community are going to be here with me figuring this out for the years to come,” said Beyer, “so I’m trying to build efforts that are going to last for a long time.”