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It used to be that a trip to the doctor’s office would only get you some foul-tasting medicine. Oakland Children’s Hospital, however, hopes that every kid can go home with a book. 

“Our goal is to make sure every kid has a book,” said Monique Williams of the hospital’s Reach Out and Read program. 

Now the Oakland Children’s Hospital will get a leg up from Berkeley residents. Mayor Shirley Dean kicked off a drive Thursday morning for the Half Pint Library, a project that aims to provide books to children who cannot visit libraries or bookstores. 

The three-year-old project aims to collect books and also build the shelves or carts to distribute them. It grew out of an idea by a Half-Price Books employee, and the stores serve as donation points. 

The project has helped institutions around the country, but the new partnership with the Oakland Children’s Hospital will create the first Half Pint Library in California. 

The Berkeley store has been involved with the program from the start, said Matt Dalton, Half-Price Books’ local district manager. So far, the Berkeley store has collected 600 books for the hospital and the three stores in the Bay Area have collected 1,500. 

Dean said she wanted to do her part to spread the word and will be circulating a memo to city employees.  

“It’s really important that when children are in the hospital for a period of time, and they’re frightened, that they have other things to do other than their medical care,” said Dean.  

Not only would this project give kids the opportunity to read books that might talk about the hospital experience or about kids coping with the same diseases, said Dean, but it also keeps them from getting bored. 

“Reading keeps the mind sharp and focused,” she said. “It also gives them pleasure and fuels the imagination. I can’t imagine any better thing for a child in a strange setting.” 

The Children’s Hospital has previously relied on donations from Boy and Girl Scout troops, community organizations and individuals to stock their waiting rooms and provide books for longer-term patients. Foundation funding and a discount program from publisher Scholastic, Inc. helped buy new books. 

Williams said this project could make their one-child-one-book dream a reality.  

Berkeley residents interested in donating new or gently used books should drop by Half-Price Books at 1849 Solano Ave. For more information, call (510) 526-6080.