ThriftBooks Donated 25,000 Books to Book Fairies for NYC Kids – Here’s why it matters

By Barbara Hagen • May 11, 2026

On April 18 and 19, 25,000 booklovers showed up at BookCon in New York City for a two-day book-loving expo. Many came in cosplay with tote bags which they filled up with ARCs and signed editions from their favorite authors. They were booklovers who had found their genre, and their love for books. They were there because somewhere along the way, a book had changed something in them, and they wanted to be in a room with others who knew exactly what that felt like.

That same weekend, ThriftBooks donated 25,000 children’s books to Book Fairies, a nonprofit that puts books directly into the hands and homes of kids in underserved communities across New York City and Long Island. These books were distributed to kids who, more often than not, had never owned their own copy of a book before. They haven’t yet discovered their favorite genre, author, or even character.

Two sets of 25,000. Same weekend. Same city. And, we hope, eventually, the same story—just told a few decades apart.

The Kid Who Hasn’t Met Their Book Yet

Every passionate reader at BookCon was once a child who hadn’t yet read the book that would change them. For some of us, that book was sitting on a shelf at home, waiting. For others, it was handed to us by a teacher, or pulled off a library cart, or pressed into our hands by an aunt who said, “Trust me, you’ll enjoy this.”

But for far too many kids in this country, that book—that one that changes you—has not yet arrived. Not because they wouldn’t love it, not because they couldn’t be transformed by it, but because no one has yet put that book within reach. In far too many neighborhoods and schools, there is a shortage of age-appropriate books for children. The book that could change everything is out there; it just hasn’t found them yet.

That is the gap Book Fairies exists to close, and why this partnership matters so deeply to all of us at ThriftBooks.

Why Book Fairies

Since 2012, Book Fairies has distributed more than six million books to children and families across New York City and Long Island. Their model is beautifully practical: each month, they host large-scale distribution events where educators and nonprofit leaders come and select thousands of books for their classrooms, programs, and communities. Those books then travel out into Title I schools, pediatric offices, family shelters, transit hubs, and home libraries—wherever a child might be, wherever a book might be needed.

They are the kind of organization we love partnering with, deeply rooted in their community, relentlessly focused on access, and built around a simple, powerful belief that book ownership is the foundation of a lifelong reading habit.

Because here’s the thing about book ownership: it’s just plain different from borrowing. A book that belongs to you is a book you can read at your own pace, return to at your own rhythm, write your name inside, lend it, re-read at twelve and again at twenty-two. A book that belongs to you is a book that helps you transition from “learning to read” to “reading to learn,” the doorway to everything that comes after.

A Word from Book Fairies

“ThriftBooks generous donation of 25,000 gently used books is more than just a gift of books—it is an investment in literacy, opportunity, and stronger communities. At a time when 1 in 4 Americans is identified as functionally illiterate, access to books can truly change lives by helping children and families build critical reading skills, confidence, and a lifelong love of learning. Those 25,000 books represent the potential for 25,000 stories changed—opening doors to imagination, education, and opportunity for people who may not otherwise have access to books of their own. We are incredibly grateful to ThriftBooks for recognizing the power of access to reading materials and for partnering with Book Fairies to help put books into the hands of people who need them most.”

The BookCon of 2046

Here is what I keep thinking about: in New York City right now, some child somewhere is about to receive one of the books we just donated. Maybe it’s a picture book about a girl who builds rockets, maybe it’s a chapter book about a kid detective, or maybe it’s a graphic novel that finally makes reading feel like fun instead of homework.

Whatever it is, that child is going to take it home and it will be theirs.

And maybe, in twenty years, that child—now an adult—will walk into a book fan convention somewhere. They’ll be wearing a t-shirt from their favorite series with a tote bag full of paperbacks, maybe they’ll be standing in line to meet the author who got them through a hard year. And they will be one of 25,000 people who showed up because a book, somewhere along the way, changed everything.

That’s why we donate. Because every single one of those books is a possibility. A first step toward a reading life.

A Bigger Picture

This donation also connects to something larger we’ve been building this year: the ThriftBooks 500 Billion Page Challenge, our collective movement to get the country reading 500 billion pages a year, the way we did a decade ago. The Challenge is about making reading feel achievable and joyful and worth tracking—for everyone. And “everyone” has to start with the kids who haven’t yet had the chance to fall in love with a book of their own.

Every page read counts. Every page given counts even more.

How You Can Help

If you’d like to support Book Fairies directly, you can learn more and donate at thebookfairies.org. They are doing extraordinary work, and every dollar and every book moves a child closer to their first life-changing reading moment.

To Eileen, Courtney, and the entire team at Book Fairies—thank you for the work you do every day, and for letting us be a small part of it. To the kids who will open these books in the weeks ahead—we can’t wait to see who you become.

Save us a spot in line at BookCon 2046.