Donate your new or gently used books and put a smile on a child's face :)
Donations to 23 countries
Fighting Illiteracy Around World
All Volunteer Based
Reading Reflections was founded in memory of our grandparents, Edith and Morris Mendelsohn. Our grandparents were teachers who dedicated their lives to the education of their children, grandchildren and children of their communities. It is they who inspired our feeling for the importance of education and our passion for reading.
This inspiration has lead to us helping millions of children around the world who do not have easy access to books. We are helping to ensure that thousands of books are placed in the hands of eager youngsters.
The project began when our dear family friend who is Guyanese sustained a devastating loss: her nephew, a twenty-two-year-old police detective, was brutally murdered. Our friend had been spearheading a campaign to found a school library that was in dire need of educational materials. To honor this young detective's memory, we dedicated our time and effort to creating a library that would provide a wealth of educational resources for the children of the Al-Madinah Islamic Academy. It was immensely rewarding to contribute towards the educational development of children in another country.
We received so many books that we had to look for places locally that could use the surplus. When we saw the tremendous need for books both locally and in impoverished areas globally, we continued to request book donations, organize events with local organizations, and help build libraries throughout New York, New Jersey and oversees. Many children we have helped often have not owned a book in their lives and it is heartwarming to see the expressions on parents' faces when they are able to give their children this precious gift.
As our project progressed, we began to enlist the help of our community. With the assistance of local school drives, bookstores, publishers, and an amazing group of volunteers, Reading Reflections has grow into the largest book donation and collection cnter on Long Island. Our initial collection of books tripled, and then tripled again, until our garages were stacked to the ceiling with thousands of books. As more shipments arrived, our infatuation with the effort grew. To date, we have donated more than 2.5 million books to children in need locally and abroad.
Help us reach our goal of 5 million books
The need for new and gently used books is only growing. With our garages flowing with books in and out all year, are excited to reach our goal of 5 million books donated!
Donate Books Today
Books Collected
3.65 Million Goal 5 MillionReading Reflections welcomes donations of new and gently used books from publishers, booksellers, schools, organizations and individuals. Let us bring them to someone who can really use them. We accept books for both children and young adults.
We accept book drop-offs at the following three locations. Please make sure sure that you receive confirmation from a Reading Reflections volunteer before dropping off any books. if you would like to coordinate a book pickup, please contact us and let us know. Thank you so much for helping us help others!
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Please contact us in advance and we will provide drop-off location
Donate NowIt is a sacrifice for donors to part with their books and some are almost too precious to donate. But those books are soon cherished by their new guardians, such as the children at the Henry Schein Back-to School carnival or in regions in Ethiopia where even teachers do not own their own books.
What started as a series of small projects has grown into a mission to do our part to pass on our love for reading and writing to future generations. In our endeavor to put books in the hands of children who desperately need and want them, we have been amazed at the generosity of hundreds of our friends, local bookstores and publishers. We look forward to many rewarding years as our organization continues to grow and thrive.
Andrea Gatewood, director of the Nassau County Women, Infant and Children’s (WIC) Program, picked up books that were collected by our Reading Reflections volunteer Jonah Kalaty. He spearheaded a book drive for WIC collecting over a thousand books!
Isaac and Matthew Mendelsohn team up with SOMOS Community Care and Goldin Martinez of Get Focused in an effort to promote exercise and access to books.
Isaac and Matthew worked with Adam Schroeder to stock the library of Big Brothers Big Sisters of NYC and provide educational resources for local families.
Lily Penn and Doherty Petri School of Irish Dance in East Northport hosted a book drive for donations to local shelters. Hundreds of books in great condition were put to good use across New York.
We are thrilled to support USACF (The U.S.-Africa Children’s Fellowship) in their efforts to supply books and supplies to Syrian refugees living in camps in Amman, Jordan and throughout Africa.
Reading Reflections volunteers team up with Nguzo Ogbodo of Hope and Dreams Initiative to provide feminine hygiene products for girls in the Delta State, Nigeria. Pictured are Eden, Nguzo and Grace.
American Hebrew Academy student, Tamara Hyman, and RR president, Eden Schneck, provide books for the Greensboro community after tornado damage. Authorities declared a local state of emergency after the tornado caused damage in several locations around Greensboro.
Ben with Reading Reflections collected dozens of boxes of books for Nassau County Department of Human Services. He organized a book drive and received a large variety of books for all different ages.
Hempstead Town Receiver of Taxes Don Clavin and Senior Councilwoman Dorothy Goosby joined RR as they donated thousands of books to Pat-Kam School & Early Childhood Center in Uniondale. RR President Eden Schneck and volunteer Alexandra Zarka spearheaded the donation.
When Julia Kupferman, Eden Schneck, Alex Zarka, and Grace Applebaum learned that many of the girls lack the feminine hygiene supplies, they packed up hundreds of kits with thousands of sanitary pads to help keep girls in school.
Berry Hill Elementary School invited Eden to speak at a School wide assembly to share her story and promote volunteerism. Thank you to the teachers, staff and students for your hard work and generosity!
Legal Aid Society's Yissel Cabrera accepted two more donations from Reading Reflections volunteers Justin Hei Samuel Ramos. Legal Aid was grateful to have not only books for young readers but accepted middle school and high school level books as well.
Justin Heinze arranged for multiple donations to Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center's Pediatric Critical Care department as well as many other Pediatric service departments. Pediatric patients must wait several hours for their medical procedures and the children's books are appreciated greatly.
Volunteer Justin Heinze organized a unique donation: Boxes of Multiple Copies of "Esther's Story" a book describing the inspiration for the Purim holiday given to Riverdale Jewish Center. Finding the right home for a particular book is very rewarding for our Reading Reflections volunteers.
Samuel Ramos found a home for donated multiple copies of "What's on Your Plate?", a book and related TV program devoted to the topic of Sustainable farm to table eating for kids and their families. Ridge & Valley Charter School, located in Warren County, New Jersey, has a mission of encouraging Earth Awareness and Sustainable living.
Academy Charter School, based in Hempstead, has a mission to create world class competitive scholars who will LEARN today, LEAD tomorrow, and SERVE in the future. Justin Heinze and Samuel Ramos were able to find this great home for a generous donation of 30 boxes.
Jersey City Global Charter School staff members accepted 5 boxes of Middle School level books from Reading Reflections for their rigorous Microsociety based Academic program. This donation, arranged by Reading Reflections volunteer Samuel Ramos, is the first of several planned donations.
Reading Reflections volunteers Victoria Mollo and Mark Mollo review some of the dozen boxes of children's books donated through a book drive set up by Carol Chin and the other scouts from Girl Scout Troop 2235, led by Troop Leader Shirley Chin.
Justin Heinze and Samuel Ramos participated in the Bi-Annual Book Blossoms Fall Festival. This event inspires young readers to find the joy in reading. Collaborating with this festival at John Jay Park allowed RR to spread the word about our organization and its important work.
Stuyvesant HS Junior Justin Heinze arranged for a wonderful donation: several boxes of great children's books to Brooklyn Hospital's Child Life program which serves the Pediatric Inpatient and Pediatric Intensive Care Units. Child Life Director Lori Lerma is happy to receive the donation!
The Legal Aid Society's Juvenile Rights Division's "Books for Kids" project is a program designed to promote reading among their young clients who come from underserved communities. They provide free books to every client at every visit. Each time a child visits the office they take home a book.
Once again, Dream Charter School was happy to receive a huge donation of children's books from Reading Reflections, organized by volunteer Gabrielle Rich. The books will be used in their beautiful classrooms and will also be given away to students K-8.
The donation, arranged and delivered by RR volunteer Gabrielle Rich, will be used in their lovely reading room under the supervision of the Child Life Program manager, Ivana Man. Many of the books in pristine and excellent condition will also be given away to their young patients.
"Child Life & Creative Arts Therapy" program at Mt. Sinai helps young patients of all age groups cope with their fears and anxieties by offering therapeutic activities tailored to meet their social, emotional and educational needs. Reading Reflections volunteer Gabrielle Rich brings another donation.
Women Rising assists women and their families to achieve self-sufficiency and to lead productive and fulfilling lives. Reading Reflections volunteer Samuel Ramos dropped off seven boxes of books for the women and their children.
Once again, Reading Reflections is proud to support Bellevue’s “Reach Out and Read” program, a national initiative that promotes early literacy and school readiness. The program encourages reading aloud as a regular, joyful family activity that can improve academic success.
Justina Lewis, the Head of the Volunteer Achilles program at Lenox Hill, welcomes another delivery of books from Reading Reflections High School volunteers, Gabrielle Rich and André Altherr. The books will be distributed to surgical waiting rooms and carried around throughout the hospital on carts for the adult patients staying at Lenox Hill Hospital.
WIC Program in Nassau County, NY serves low-income women, infants and children. Reading Reflections volunteers had their own booth and were able to give away hundreds of books to children and families at the recently held Health/Information Fair on Long Island, organized by the Nassau County Department of Health.
For many decades, LSA, founded by the Little Sisters of the Assumption in 1958, has served the families of East Harlem with their health and education programs. They were happy to receive hundreds of books from Reading Reflections again with the help of RR volunteers.
University Settlement believes that the foundation for a child’s future is formed in the first few years of life. Reading Reflections gives full-hearted support to University Settlement Early Childhood program, which offers low-income parents exceptionally high-quality, cutting edge literacy curriculums.
Reading Reflections had the pleasure of receiving a generous donation of about 500 beautiful Pop-Up books from Fred Cohen. RR volunteer, Gabrielle Rich, was able to find loving homes for these wonderful books.
The Book Blossoms’ goal is to give children the opportunity to create a balance between books and technology. With the help of RR volunteers, they had a successful Spring Fair and a book drive. They collected many books to be donated to various children’s organizations, hospitals and schools.
Join our exceptional team of Reading Reflections volunteers! Find out how you can help today.
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