By: Kate Zaffarese, Follow South Jersey Community Journalist
PENNSAUKEN — In 2017, BookSmiles founder and executive director Larry Abrams had a vision of an outlet for young readers to have the library of their dreams, filled with a wide variety of books. Nearly a decade later, his vision has grown into a vital resource for teachers and students, and is one of the fastest growing nonprofits in South Jersey. His work, with the support of his staff and volunteers, has provided thousands of students with the books they need to thrive in and out of the classroom.
BookSmiles is a non-profit organization that distributes books to schools in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, currently distributing more than 100,000 books each month. Their goal is to irrigate “book deserts”, areas where reading materials are harder to come by. Often these deserts are in high poverty areas that do not have access to a wide variety of books compared to higher income areas.
Abrams, a high school English teacher at the time, first had the idea for BookSmiles after asking one of his students, a teen mother, what she was reading to her daughter. She said she did not read to her, and Abrams was immediately inspired to give her the books she needed to provide her daughter’s own personal library. He put out a call on social media for book donations, and the overwhelming response made him realize that this could be beneficial to thousands of children.
From then on, Abrams expanded the scope of the project, going from storing the books in his garage to a 1,000 square foot space in Cherry Hill until moving to a larger building in Pennsauken in 2022. Abrams quickly realized that even this new location would not be enough to handle the amount of books donated and that they needed to expand further.
“The week after we moved into this location, we quickly filled the space up with books. I said to myself, we’ll be able to run a million books a year out of here,” said Abrams. “Well, the year before last, it was 1.1 million. This past year was 1.3 million. We are completely maxed out.”
BookSmiles has become an invaluable resource for teachers, who can take part in their Teacher Take program, allowing them to take hundreds of books with a yearly $35 donation, a far lower price than buying books new or from secondhand stores. Teachers often have to buy books for their classroom out-of-pocket, and Abrams is proud to be able to make that process easier and more affordable.
“Almost right across the board, teachers are stuck paying for their own supplies. And that needs to stop particularly when it comes to books. That is one of the reasons why I created BookSmiles, to address that need for the teachers. That is part of our mission, to support educators,” he said.
Another program BookSmiles takes part in is Read the World, which works with organizations to donate overflow books to countries in Africa and South America. More than 300 million books are sent to landfills each year, and programs like these help to make sure these books are put to good use instead. Additionally, the books that are too badly damaged to distribute are recycled through a partnership with paper mill Newman Paperboard, ensuring nothing goes to waste.
For the staff and volunteers of BookSmiles, the most rewarding part of the job is the joy of giving educators the books they need most, and children the books they’re dying to read.
“Seeing the teachers when they come in here, they’re really thankful for not having spent thousands of dollars on books,” said BookSmiles distribution strategist Jessica Simcoe. “They can come in here for $35 and for a whole year, they can take as many books as they want and no one judges them on how much they take.”
Being read to from infancy and beginning to read at a young age is incredibly important for a child’s growing mind as it encourages children to use their imagination, build their vocabularies, and improve comprehension skills. Giving access to books for everyone will allow more students to have strong reading skills as they grow up.
The student that inspired Abrams to start BookSmiles in 2017 has kept in touch over the years and recently told him that her daughter was now reading beyond grade level. This is what he calls his “North Star moment.”
“Last year she told me that her daughter is now a sophomore in the same town where she grew up and her daughter reads well beyond grade level. That is absolute proof that giving your kids access to books is a game changer. This is how we address the literacy crisis,” he said. “It’s not necessarily through a multi-million dollar new curriculum. It’s by giving kids in book deserts access to books in their home.”
Abrams plans to continue expanding the reach of his program by opening a new location in Cherry Hill in the near future, which he envisions to be more than a book bank. It will be a community center for all book lovers to spread the joy of reading and volunteerism. This soon-to-be location will be another stepping stone for BookSmiles to serve an even larger population and keep making people smile through the power of books.
- What’s Good in South Jersey? The Cubbyhole
- Data Center in Monroe Twp. Shuttered Before Development Starts
- Haskin Shellfish Research Lab at Rutgers Breeds Stronger Oysters
Follow South Jersey provides local journalism which highlights our diverse communities; fosters transparency through robust, localized, and vital reporting that holds leaders and institutions accountable; addresses critical information needs; supports people in navigating civic life; and equips people with the information necessary to partake in effective community engagement. If there is a story or event you think we should cover, please send your tips to news@followsouthjersey.com with “NEWS” in the subject line.
