My name is Ethan Levenstien and I am a rising Sophomore at Half Hollow Hills East in Dix Hills. I am also the co-founder of the Little Lev Library, a community initiative my brother and I created two years ago to increase access to books in underprivileged areas, while hopefully encouraging a lifelong love of reading.
As a Young Ambassador for the Henrik Lundqvist Foundation, I was given the opportunity to lead a service project that reflected my interests while making a meaningful difference in the community. When I received an email from Temple Beth Torah that the Gerald Ryan Outreach Center was looking for volunteers, I knew I wanted to help! This not-for-profit organization, serving the area of Wyandanch and surrounding communities for over 30 years, provides various programs for children and families who are struggling financially. I was already familiar with this organization because not only has our temple been supporting it for the past 20 years, but last year my brother and I donated 600 books to them that we collected through a community book drive. This time, I wanted to do more than just drop off books at their door. So, I organized and held a book fair for the kids attending their summer camp.
I named it the Friendship Book Fair because I specifically included books on themes of friendship, inclusion, positivity, resilience, self-esteem, confidence, and neurodiversity. Approximately 50 campers in grades 1-6 came to “shop” my library’s collection of 140 titles and each chose two books to take home that they genuinely wanted to read. The leftover books were to be distributed to campers who attend on different days, approximately 15 more children. I bought the books using a $400 grant that I applied for and received from The Contribution Project through Cornell University, an organization which empowers youth to make a positive change in their communities. A lot of the books were also from my own personal collection, handpicked with positive and meaningful messages and ones that reflected a variety of experiences, perspectives, and characters.
The Friendship Book Fair allowed me to expand the mission of the Little Lev Library by bringing books directly to children in a welcoming community setting. I loved seeing the children’s faces light up as they looked through the books! Discussing our mutual favorite authors, like Todd Parr, and watching them become excited about what they found was one of the most rewarding parts of this project. So many of the kids said they couldn’t believe they got to keep the books. The supervisor also told me he appreciated my thoughtful assortment and the amount of diverse books I included. I hope that the stories the campers selected will continue to encourage kindness, empathy, and positive connections long after the event is over.
Written By HLFYA Ethan Levenstien
