Here is our Carter Fichter, our Estate Manager.

It's been a very busy December as we approach our 4,000,000th book distributed.  And what a pleasure to spread book-joy with new friends, David Adelman and Rahim and Tanisha Thompson of the Thompson Family Foundation.

A few days before, Larry and Emily had a great time distributing books at the Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral, in parallel with a coat giveaway by the Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Greater Philadelphia. The Jalen Hurts Foundation purchased beautiful coats, and it was so great meeting Bree Hurts.  Thanks for the invite, Justin and Rachel Fishman!

Tigris Foundation broke a record! They coordinated a POWERFUL drive that filled our truck TWICE in one day - harvesting 14 overloaded pallets of grown-up and kids books - about 16,000 total. They made it into a dynamic community event, harnessing the help of elected officials, neighbors, and the host - Upper Dublin Lutheran Church.

​We will trade adult books for their weight/bulk in used kids books.
We encourage faith-based communities to across NJ and the Philly region to stage similar book drives.

On a beautiful fall Sunday, 226 runners and walkers came out for our 3rd Annual 5K.  We raised $25,000, so a big shout out to our sponsors, vendors, volunteers, and supporters.

Princeton takes books and education very seriously.  That's why we're thrilled that Littlebrook Elementary has created a collection station for kids and grown-up books. 

Today Larry explained to first graders that they can now share their books with other children who lack access.  And the word of the day was ACCESS.

What better way to start the school year than to have a visit from educator/author Hallee Adelman.  She and the BookSmiles crew put on a party! Fifty Philly teachers enjoyed an evening of food, raffles, golden-ticket prizes, and free books! 

How great to kick off our partnership with the School District of Philadelphia at their Back-to-School Celebration & Bus Tour.
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Here are a few of our goals:
1. Serve as a common-sense alternative to the corporate book fairs, where most kids get priced out. We have free books at our Fair BookSmiles Book Faires!
2. Provide teachers with classroom libraries.
3. Inject hundreds of thousands of books into the day cares and childcare centers that feed Philly kindergartens and preschools.

A New Jersey township library had a problem; the director told us that they needed to cull 30,000 books, CDs, and DVDs from their collection. This happens all the time, all over the country.  

We said that we could use them to trade for quality, gently used kids books.

This morning, the public works department delivered three loaded pallets of books!  By the time we're finished 15 tons of obsolete library materials will be diverted from landfill.  The library wins. Booksmiles wins. And most importantly, the children we serve will win. 

Our first BookSmiles Bash fundraiser happened at the Community House of Moorestown, with 200 friends and supporters in attendance. We did the following:

• Recognized 3.2 million children's books distributed
• Thanked our teen ambassadors
• Heard inspiring words about book-access from board member Senator Troy Singleton
• Made new friends
• Raised $33,500 for operating expenses
• Weren't able to make it but feel inspired after viewing the pics? We'd love your donation to help get us to $40,000. Every dollar helps us acquire and distribute 2 gently used kids books. Make it happen here: