Apply for 100 free inclusive books with IBC Book Box

What is IBC Book Box?

IBC Book Box is a UK-wide bookgifting scheme, dedicated to increasing access to free inclusive books for the children who need them most.

Who can apply?

All state primary schools across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are eligible to apply for an IBC Book Box.

Applications are now closed and will reopen in 2027.

How to apply?

Applicants are asked to fill out a short form to apply for a free IBC Book Box.

When applying, please tell us how the books will be used in your setting as we are keen to support schools and educators who can show how the books will make a real difference.

AI-generated applications will not be considered.

Read our Book Box FAQs.

A photo of uniformed children in a school library, who have just been unboxing their IBC Book Box, A young Black boy strikes a pose, brandishing a copy of the graphic novel Juniper Mae (which hides his face). His peers, 3 girls in Hijabs, and a fourth, a girl with brown skin holding a book, laugh happily around him.

Applications are now closed.

Additional FREE resources

All applicants, whether successful or not, will receive access to these fantastic digital resources as part of the IBC Book Box scheme:

Expert guides: a series of videos from the IBC team, with guidance on sharing inclusive books with children
Top tips video: a downloadable slideshow packed with advice on making the most of the IBC website
Free newsletter: where you have agreed to subscribe

Impact of the IBC Book Box scheme

In 2024, we gifted 46 boxes of free books to schools and community libraries as part of our hugely successful pilot scheme.

Of the Book Box recipients surveyed:

100% reported a positive impact on pupils’ awareness and normalisation of all types of people
93% reported a positive impact on pupils’ reading enjoyment
86% reported a positive impact on pupils’ self-esteem

This powerful feedback, combined with the significant number of compelling applications, is why we expanded the scheme in 2025 to 60 boxes, reaching even more primary school children, and why we have expanded the scheme again in 2026.

A photo of 8 children in a school library excitedly unboxing their IBC Book Box. 4 children grin at the camera, 2 of whom are waving books in the air.

What schools say about IBC Book Box

‘Several of the books have opened the students’ eyes, and some read books where they had no knowledge about the race or culture or diversity or religion or sexuality. They are absorbing new things without having a negative assessment, and I feel that opens the door to understanding one another.’

School librarian, Durham

‘A fabulous range of books which engaged children across all year groups. Children loved opening the box and seeing the exciting new current books.’

Deputy headteacher, Leicestershire

‘The vast majority of our students are from minoritised ethnic groups, and it has been a big and important lesson for them seeing there are characters that look like them and authors from the same groups. It’s hard to see that when you’re only seeing ‘mainstream’ authors, illustrators and books in shops and libraries.’

School librarian, Bristol

Why are we running a free books scheme?

As a registered literacy charity we aim to help parents, teachers and librarians source diverse and inclusive books for children.

We recognise the current inequalities in access to school or community library provision, and that many collections still lack a stock of diverse and inclusive texts. We also know that literacy budgets are under enormous strain, which often gets in the way of updating and diversifying book collections.

Meanwhile, despite 30.7% of nursery and primary school-aged children in the UK being from minority ethnic backgrounds, only 5.5% of books published for that age group in 2024 featured main characters of minoritised ethnic backgrounds. It could therefore take decades for library book stock to become fully inclusive without further curation and support.

IBC Book Box offers a wide selection of exciting, top-quality inclusive books, handpicked by specialists in children’s literature and ready to be received and enjoyed by children.

Check out our website for inclusive book reviews, recommendations and thematic booklists curated by experts.