Community Programs

Book Fairies bring books to where people are, providing immediate access to literature by creating free public bookshelves in under-served community locations, and maintaining and refreshing the book inventory. Our recipients struggle with book access for several reasons.  Some are students who live in shelters with little to no access to books, limited access to book sources in many neighborhoods, library hours are limited, and school and library book inventories are old and falling apart or lacking, due to limited budgets for new book acquisition. Improved access to books through constantly refreshed selections of books encourage reading, helps build the literacy levels of the community members, and build stronger communities.

We supply, maintain, and refresh book collections in a variety of locations, including public bookshelves at health centers, public parks, LIRR stations, grocery stores, shelves at pediatric doctors’ offices, before- and after-school programs, transitional housing, soup kitchens, women’s shelters, and community centers. We also make faith-based books available to religious schools or community organizations and deliver paperback books to organizations working with individuals in the correctional system.

If you know of a site in a high needs area that could benefit from a continuously supplied bookshelf, please reach out and send us an email.

Book Fairies provides books for shelves within organizations that serve high-need populations such as homeless shelters, soup kitchens, women’s shelters, community centers, and family serving organizations.

We partner with IDD agencies with a shared purpose; to provide volunteer work experience for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD). The program gives the participants the chance to acquire new skills, build self-esteem, build job skills, and develop relationships. Our IDD volunteers get the opportunity within their program setting and, in the community, to be involved and giving back through meaningful activities. Book Fairies has grown stronger because of our mutual partnership with the IDD community, allowing us to reach even more people with our books and allowing us to distribute even more books to areas in need.

Some of our volunteers are in day habilitation and pre-vocational programs and participating in our program gives them a sense of purpose and allows them to make a positive impact and difference in their community.

At The Book Fairies, we empower everyone to make a difference in their community regardless of their age, ability, or other factors. Our fully inclusive volunteer opportunities people can volunteer in the community or at their program-site assisting with tasks ranging broadly from delivery of books, stocking public bookshelves, sorting donated books, and administrative tasks.

Book Fairies’ volunteers have had a valuable impact on the community and have been essential to expanding our reach enabling us to handle book deliveries across Long Island and Queens.

If you are interested in more information on how to get books from us for your non-profit organization, please send us an email.