Teacher Jennifer Williams is on a mission to donate one million books to young readers, often using Little Free Libraries to achieve that goal. This morning, the TODAY show presented Jennifer with two special surprises: We were happy to gift Jennifer a Little Free Library book-sharing box of her own, and Penguin Random House pledged 10,000 books toward Jennifer’s cause. That’s more than $130,000 worth of books!
The good news was revealed at Chatham Elementary School in Virginia, where Jennifer teaches. Watch the joyful celebration here.
A special charter sign on the Little Free Library reads: “JENNIFER WILLIAMS LIBRARY (AKA “THE BOOK LADY!”)
“Wherever I go, I carry books with me,” Jennifer Williams told the Washington Post earlier this year. “There is such a clear divide you see with kids who have books at home,” said Jennifer, who has taught students from kindergarten to seventh grade. “There’s a discrepancy in how successful they are in school, their vocabulary, their ability to answer questions, their ability to relate to concepts — all of those skills are markedly different when they have access to books.”
Prior to today, Jennifer had shared 91,900 books. The 10,000-book donation from Penguin Random House will be divided between Jennifer and our nonprofit organization to share on her behalf, pushing her total number of books donated past the 100,000 mark. That means she has 900,000 to go to reach her goal of sharing one million books—and we think she’ll get there. There’s no stopping a teacher who believes in the power of reading!
Do you want to share books in your community? Find a Little Free Library near you with our mobile app!