Abby Daly: Closing the Reading Gap Through Bridge of Books

N ot all children have easy access to books, and even in New Jersey, there are children who are “book poor.” Fortunately, people like Abby Daly from Locust are helping to solve this problem. Through her efforts, The Bridge of Books Foundation was created seventeen years ago. “What started as something to occupy my time with my kids, transformed into a drive to close the gap in access to books among kids throughout New Jersey,” shared Abby.

The Foundation’s mission is to get as many books as possible into the hands of New Jersey’s underserved children, The Bridge of Books collects books appropriate for underserved children, from infants to the age of 18. Collections are made through local book drives, individual donations (many from local children inspired to help others), publisher overstocks and corporate donors. It also purchases books for special programs and supplements distributions with genres not typically part of the collections they receive. Vonage is an important sponsor, donating space to store the books and providing operational support since 2015. Through its generosity, Bridge of Books more than doubled its distribution from 75,000 books in 2014 to nearly 150,000 in 2015. Another major sponsor for several years is Scholastic Book Fairs, which has donated books and $10,000, allowing even more books to be distributed.

Bridge of Books is particularly proud of its “Books for Birthdays” program. Instead of birthday presents, children have the opportunity to collect new and/or gently used books to donate to others.

Where do the books go once they are donated? “In our sixteen plus years, we have donated books to well over 150 schools, agencies, community events and anywhere else we can find children who need access to books – across every county.   We are also in the prison system – both adult and juvenile. Parents don’t stop being parents simply because they are incarcerated, and the children enjoy reading with their parents and getting to take a book home. The detained juveniles also respond well to our books – both as an escape and a way to keep up on their literacy skills,” said Abby.

Abby reflected on her journey. “Bridge of Books has put more than 1.135 million books into the hands of underserved kids across New Jersey. Yet, the gap in access to books among children in New Jersey is still there and kids in low-income parts of the state are still struggling to develop adequate literacy skills. Building a bridge between communities is the first step in closing the gap. Ideally, once there is equal access to books among all children in New Jersey, we can take it on the road.”

For more information, visit bridgeofbooksfoundation.org.