Across NYC, thousands of children’s books are waiting for their next reader.
We collect pre-loved children’s books across New York City and get them to community partners — neighborhood spaces, community gardens, and local programs — who share them for free with the families they serve.
Kids growing up with books at home are more likely to develop stronger reading, language, and thinking skills. And reading helps children learn about the world, see themselves in others, and imagine futures of their own.
But access to books isn’t a given for all children; in some neighborhoods, books at home are hard to come by.
Across the city, thousands of children’s books are outgrown, but ready for another reader. Another Story NYC gets these books to where they’ll be loved next.
Childhood exposure to books matters.
Lost in “Home for a Bunny” (missing its back cover!) on Christmas, 1989
Every kid deserves a bookshelf of their own.
I’m Melissa, and I’ve loved books for as long as I can remember.
As a child, I was a free lunch kid and a voracious reader. The daughter of refugees and first in my family born in the United States, I grew up with books that were hand-me-downs, rummage sale finds, and giveaways from libraries and schools.
Bent corners and dog-eared pages didn’t bother me at all. I cherished these books and the chance to make them my own. They made me a reader and learner.
Years later, a Bronx community garden leader I’d volunteered with mentioned she’d love more books for the kids in her community. And I’d noticed local families and schools struggling to find homes for books their children had outgrown — books I would’ve loved as a kid. So I started bringing them to her garden.
That’s how Another Story NYC began — a program rooted in community, so more kids can find books of their own to love.
Get in touch.
Have children’s books to give? Run a community space that could use some? Want to help out in other ways? We’d love to hear from you!