Wade Bullard loves to read and has always had access to books – but that is not true for every child.
So when Bullard needed a project to earn his Eagle Scout rank in Scouting America – formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America – he decided to hold a book drive.
Bullard, who belongs to Scouts BSA Troop 27, discovered BookSmiles. It is a non-profit group based in Cherry Hill that collects books and gives them to children who lack them.
“I learned about BooksSmiles through the newsletter from the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville. I went to pre-school at PCOL and we still get the church newsletter,” Bullard said.
The Lawrence High School senior launched his book drive in August and set a goal of collecting 10,000 books. He surpassed that goal and has collected nearly 20,000 books – all in less than three months.
“I began collecting books from people I know. My aunt did a Facebook post about the book drive. Scouts were the first people that I sent fliers out to get books,” Bullard said.
The majority of the books that have been collected are children’s books. The rest are young adult books, textbooks and dictionaries. The books are turned over to BookSmiles, which is the non-profit group that distributes books to children.
BookSmiles was begun by Larry Abrams, who is a former high school English teacher. He taught in the Moorestown Township Public Schools and in the Lindenwold School District before he retired.
Abrams compared Moorestown to Lindenwold. Moorestown is an affluent community, not unlike Princeton or Lawrence Township, he said. Linenwold, by contrast, is a low socio-economic community.
“It’s not fair. Kids in Moorestown get swimming lessons and karate lessons. They have books and other kids do not. Those kids feel left out. We don’t want kids to feel left out,” he said.
“We want to spread book culture. We want to have a ‘book firehose’ – to spew books out to children who need them the most. When kids grow up with great books, they are more successful,” Abrams said.
The adult books that have been donated are traded for children’s books, he said. Online booksellers have warehouses full of books, but children’s books have less value to the booksellers than adult books.
“The beautiful thing is, kids books are kept out of the landfills. We are upcycling books. We are keeping books out of the landfill and putting them in kids’ hands. We get them to kids who would not have books,” Abrams said.
BookSmiles is essentially a book bank, he said. The books that are collected – in Lawrence Township and other communities – are sent to BookSmiles’ hub in Cherry Hill. The books are sorted by volunteers.
Abrams said teachers from northern New Jersey school districts will travel to BookSmiles to get books for their students. One of the group’s goals is to build a book bank in northern New Jersey so teachers do not have to travel as far to pick up books.
“Kids who donate books to BookSmiles, it opens the door to philanthropy when they get older. Wade has set an example. He has access to a population of book donors that I can’t,” Abrams said.
Bullard, meanwhile, is closing in on the requirements to gain Eagle Scout rank. He has earned merit badges in several areas, but has another merit badge to earn and to submit his application for Eagle Scout rank. About 6% of Scouts earn the top rank.
