BROOKLYN NAVY YARD, Brooklyn — Guide by guide, block by block, the Brooklyn Guide Bodega is working to make books as accessible as a bag of chips out of your native nook retailer.
Co-founders Rebecca Cogen and Seema Aghera selected the identify “Bodega” with intention.
“Whenever you consider bodegas in New York, you consider a spot that’s acquainted, a spot the place folks come collectively,” stated Aghera.
“Books ought to have been as accessible as your neighborhood bodega,” added Cohen.
This nonprofit, grassroots group is actively working to eradicate “guide deserts,” neighborhoods the place guide possession is scarce.
“Our mission is to extend the variety of 100-plus guide properties for teenagers in New York Metropolis,” stated Aghera.
By offering free, flippantly used books, they wish to be certain that each youngster, no matter their household’s monetary scenario, has the chance to personal tales that may form their world.
“We exist as a result of youngsters who learn do higher in life. There’s an impression on their instructional outcomes, their monetary earnings, and their psychological well being,” Aghera stated.
Brooklyn Guide Bodega distributes free books by pop-up occasions and group partnerships.
“We’re arrange within the locations and areas the place youngsters frolicked,” stated Aghera, emphasizing the nonprofit’s dedication to accessibility and community-first outreach.
Volunteers play a significant position, serving to to examine, kind, and distribute books within the nonprofit’s Guide Hub. Every guide features a stamp the place youngsters can write their names, marking it as their very own.
“There may be nonetheless a lot work to do,” stated Aghera.”If all of us labored collectively, we might make a change.”
Brooklyn Guide Bodega encourages New Yorkers to get entangled by donating used books, volunteering, or just spreading the phrase.
For extra info, visit their website.
