Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Jun 1992.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
91 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
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Who runs it and what they're paid
24 people listed on the 990; $62K paid to officers and key staff.
Melissa Spradlin’s $75K as Executive Dir. is at the 68th percentile of top reported officer pay among 1613 $100K–1M education nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 1 named individual · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melissa Spradlin | $75,448 | $71,960 | $67,693 | $64,407 | $62,496 | $60,881 |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
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Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Gives children books and volunteers to spark a love of reading.
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Books for nashville's kids provide books for children and teens in davidson county, who may not have books of their own, by giving books to more than 100 schools, nonprofits, government agencies and faith-based organizations that serve low-income families.
Reading is fundamental volunteers visit their assigned elementary classroom five times or more throughout the school year. During these visits, the volunteers read aloud to and interact with the children, then allow each child to select a new book to become their very own.
Ready for reading places reading volunteers in local preschools and elementary schools. These reading volunteers act as reading role models and read on a weekly or bi-weekly basis to small groups of children or on a one-on-one basis.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2021 990, line by line.
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| Line | Start FY21 | End FY21 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $89K | $201K |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $1K | $1K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $394K | $633K |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $313 | $0 |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $393K | $633K |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $581K | $581K | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $62K | $49K | $4K | $9K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $116K | $86K | $13K | $16K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $16K | $12K | $2K | $2K |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $16K | $12K | $2K | $2K |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $3K | $3K | $332 | $332 |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $239 | $239 | ||
| Information technologyLn 14 | $3K | $3K | ||
| OccupancyLn 16 | $31K | $26K | $4K | $2K |
| TravelLn 17 | $2K | $897 | $728 | $68 |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $286 | $286 | ||
| InsuranceLn 23 | $4K | $3K | $357 | $357 |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $23K | $9K | $9K | $5K |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $6K | $2K | $4K | $303 |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $864K | $785K | $41K | $37K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest | $836K | $788K | $48K | $626K | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $729K | $844K | −$115K | $570K | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $918K | $871K | $47K | $678K | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $971K | $937K | $34K | $622K | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 Viewing | $1.1M | $864K | $240K | $633K | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $1.0M | $882K | $163K | $393K | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2021 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $1,103,877 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 18 of 18 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $1,103,877 across 6 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $863,894 across 14 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $633,279 assets, 12 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $633,279 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2021 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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