Country of Residence
United States
Age
18
Project title
The Bookmark Project
Project Summary: Describe your project in one sentence
The Bookmark Project is a youth-led literacy initiative that transforms unused books into opportunities for children worldwide, mobilizing over 300 volunteers to collect and donate more than 75,500 books to communities across the United States, India, Uganda, and Mexico.
Website URL(s) or social media handles.
Website: mybookmark.org Instagram: tbp_il
Project Category
My project is an existing project that I started
Project Stage
Scaling (We’re expanding impact to new locations or in new and innovative ways)
Founding Story: What was the spark that led you to start your project? What was the "Aha!" moment that led you to get started and see the potential for this to succeed?
The spark behind The Bookmark Project came from realizing how unfair access to opportunity can be. Somewhere in the world, there could be a girl just like me. She could have the same curiosity, dreams, and potential, but because she was born into a lower-income community or somewhere with fewer resources, she might not have access to the same books, education, or opportunities that I have always been fortunate enough to have. I began thinking about how much I had taken access to books for granted. I could walk into a library, bookstore, or even my own home and find books waiting for me. Yet for many children, something as simple as having a book to read is not guaranteed. At the same time, I saw how many perfectly good books were sitting unused on shelves. That disconnect was my “aha” moment. I realized that something I might no longer need could be an opportunity for someone else. My co-founder, Sanvi, and I began collecting books from our own community, but we quickly saw the potential for the idea to become something much larger. What began with two students and a simple book drive became The Bookmark Project.
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve? Why does it matter to you and your community?
The problem we identified is not simply that there are not enough books in the world. In many communities, books already exist in abundance, sitting untouched in homes, classrooms, and on shelves. The larger problem is that these resources are not reaching children who could benefit from them most. Access to books and educational resources can depend heavily on where a child lives and what resources are available to their family or school. A child in an under-resourced community may have the same curiosity and potential as anyone else but far fewer opportunities to explore those interests. This matters because reading is not only about academics. Books can introduce children to new ideas, perspectives, and possibilities that they may not otherwise encounter. This issue feels personal to me because I began questioning why access to opportunity can be so dependent on circumstances outside of someone's control. There could be a girl somewhere with dreams and potential just like mine, but because she was born somewhere with fewer resources, she may not have access to the same opportunities I do. We believe access to knowledge should not be treated as a privilege. We want to address one part of that larger gap by helping resources already available in one community reach children who have fewer opportunities to access them.
Your Solution: How are you solving this problem? Share your specific solution.
The Bookmark Project creates a bridge between people who have books to give and communities where access to reading materials is more limited. We collect new and gently used books through community-wide drives, school partnerships, businesses, and individual donors. Our volunteers then help organize and prepare the donations for distribution. Once books are collected, we work with partner organizations and local contacts to identify communities where they can be useful. Rather than following a one-size-fits-all approach, we build relationships with schools and organizations to understand their needs and coordinate donations accordingly. This has allowed our work to grow from local collections into international partnerships reaching communities in the United States, India, Uganda, and Mexico. Our approach also extends beyond distributing individual books. When we see an opportunity to create more lasting access to reading materials, we explore ways to support it. For example, we helped fund the construction of a school library in Sullia, Karnataka, India, creating a space where students can continue accessing books over time. At its core, our solution is about building connections. We take a resource that may no longer have a purpose for one person and create a pathway for it to become useful to someone else. By combining community collection efforts, volunteer support, and long-term partnerships, we turn individual donations into a coordinated system of access.
Impact: How has your project created impact / made a difference so far? Or, if at an early stage, what will impact look like?
The Bookmark Project has collected and donated more than 75,500 books, but the numbers only tell part of the story. What began as an idea between two students has reached children and communities in the United States, India, Uganda, and Mexico. Our impact ranges from individual book donations to larger, long-term projects. In Madhya Pradesh, India, we donated 1,600 books to 240 students across six tribal villages. In Sullia, Karnataka, we helped fund the construction of a school library that now serves 734 students, creating a lasting space for reading and learning. Our growth has also shown us what can happen when a small idea is supported by an entire community. We have grown from two co-founders into a 20-member leadership team and a network of more than 300 volunteers across Illinois and Michigan. The most meaningful part of this journey has been seeing something that started with a few books become an effort that connects people across communities and countries. Every donation represents someone choosing to share a resource they have, and every volunteer represents someone who decided that the issue was worth their time and energy. Together, those individual actions have created a much larger impact than either of us could have achieved alone.
Your Innovation: What is different about your project compared to other programs or solutions already out there? How is your project new or innovative?
The Bookmark Project is built around a familiar idea, the book drive, but we approach it as more than a collection event. We use books as a starting point for teaching young people about empathy, service, and their connection to communities beyond their own. For example, through our work with Montessori schools, students do not simply receive a flyer asking for donations. We speak with them about why access to resources is unequal and encourage them to think about how their actions can affect people they may never meet. The students then organize book drives themselves, allowing them to move from learning about an issue to actively participating in a response to it. This creates two forms of impact at once. The books collected support communities with limited access to reading materials, while the students who organize the drives gain firsthand experience with leadership, empathy, and service. Our model also allows local communities to participate in an international network. A young student can take action in their own school while contributing to a project whose reach extends far beyond their immediate surroundings. Our innovation is not claiming that a book drive alone can solve educational inequality. It is using a simple, accessible form of service to help young people understand a global issue and realize that they have the power to participate in addressing it.
How many people are on your team?
20
Your team: What role(s) do your team members play? How do you share leadership with them?
Our 20-member team is structured across executive boards in Illinois and Michigan. Each member leads a specific area, including finance, operations, communications, community partnerships, events, marketing, and impact and research. As co-founders, Sanvi and I guide the overall direction, but leadership is shared by giving team members ownership of their work and space to develop and lead their own ideas.
What’s Next: What are the next steps you plan to take to grow or strengthen your project over the next year? If your project is still in the idea stage, describe the steps you will take over the next three months to launch or begin developing it.
Over the next year, our priority is to build the infrastructure necessary for The Bookmark Project to grow sustainably. As our reach expands, we want to strengthen our fundraising strategy so we can support more international donations and reach communities in additional parts of the world. This means exploring new fundraising opportunities, building relationships with donors and organizations, and developing more reliable sources of financial support. We also want to learn from people who have experience building and leading large-scale organizations. After presenting our work at Columbia University and Vanderbilt University, we will be meeting with Caryl Stern, former President and CEO of UNICEF USA, and presenting to and connecting with students in her nonprofit management class. We hope these conversations will challenge us to think critically about how we can strengthen our organization and approach growth responsibly. Internally, we plan to continue developing our Illinois and Michigan teams while creating clearer systems that allow volunteers and student leaders to take on greater responsibility. We also hope to expand our partnerships and explore opportunities to establish our model in new communities.
How do you encourage other people to join your project or learn about the problem you’re working on? If you have a new idea, tell us how you will do this in the future.
The Bookmark Project has grown because we have focused on giving other people a way to participate, rather than keeping the work limited to our founding team. What began with two co-founders has grown into a network of more than 300 volunteers across Illinois and Michigan. We activate people by giving them specific roles and ways to contribute. Volunteers help organize book drives within their schools and communities, collect and sort donations, assist with events, and introduce us to potential partners. This allows someone who cares about the issue to move from simply hearing about it to taking concrete action. Our model also creates opportunities for people to use their own connections. A volunteer might bring The Bookmark Project into their school, introduce us to a local organization, or organize a collection in their community. Instead of relying on our founding team to do everything, these individual efforts allow the project to reach people and places we could not access alone. More than 300 volunteers have helped carry our work forward, contributing their time, ideas, and connections to our mission. To us, that is what sharing changemaking power means: giving people the confidence and opportunity to turn their concern about an issue into action.
