–Courtesy Bridge of Books
By Gloria Stravelli
RUMSON – Bridge of Books Foundation is on the move once again, but this move could determine the nonprofit’s future. As of now, cartons of books are packed up in storage units and outreach is on pause until a new space can be secured.
“We have three storage units, it’s not optimal but it’s doable, while we figure things out,” said Abigail Daly, founder and executive director of the nonprofit foundation. Begun 18 years ago, the foundation’s mission is to provide books to under-served children to nurture a love of reading and help develop literacy skills.
Daly has been through this scenario several times since founding Bridge of Books as an offshoot of a West Coast nonprofit in 2003. At that time she organized book donations from the front porch of her Rumson home with the help of volunteers. During the first year they delivered almost 8,000 books to children in Monmouth County who had none of their own, according to the organization’s website.
When the volume of donations overflowed the front porch, Daly and volunteers moved the books to a donated storage unit in Red Bank and continued the mission. In 2015, Vonage offered the nonprofit space at its Holmdel campus that included an area for storage and space to operate. But the impacts of the pandemic brought change again, as Vonage closed its building in mid-March and announced plans to take back the space to consolidate operations.
The critical need at present is for suitable donated storage space in Monmouth County to continue the nonprofit’s mission and ensure its future.
“We need to find space so that we have room to breathe and build the organization,” Daly said.
But this time there is more at stake, Daly shared, and the future of Bridge of Books will be impacted by the outcome.
“People hear about our mission and the very easy answer people always give is, ‘I’ve got books for you,’ and that’s fabulous and I’m grateful,” Daly said. “But right now, because of the impact of COVID, our needs are deeper than just books.
“If we don’t have the space to work with those books and move them, we can’t operate, and we’re losing our ability to operate,” she said. After spending time looking for donated storage space, Daly said she thinks the sustainable option is a sponsorship that allows the organization to not only rent space but also buy books when necessary.
“COVID has forced me to be honest with myself: This has been my love and volunteer job for the past 18-plus years, but I can’t do it forever,” she said. “And it’s a good mission, a really good mission, and it needs to survive. So we need to build a better infrastructure around it.”
Daly said now the goal is to find a local corporate sponsor able to support the organization long-term, giving it the ability to build a framework that can support a paid executive director and at least one other paid position.
“I would love to see a volunteer executive director take over,” Daly said, “but we need to put that (salaried option) out there.”
Daly said the changes do not mean she would be stepping away.
“I’m open to staying on as an advisor,” she said, adding that would be good to get someone in with new ideas for how to grow the organization.
According to the website, the foundation collects books through book drives, individual donations, publisher overstocks and corporate donors and distributes them through agencies, at community events, schools and other venues.
Since its beginning, the foundation estimates it has facilitated the donation of more than 1.183 million books to underserved children across New Jersey, inspired by the core belief that, “All children should have books to call their own.”
While Monmouth County is a focus for the group, “book donations are made all over the state, to children in all 21 counties of New Jersey and in all age ranges,” Daly said. Schools and nonprofits are the main recipients “because that’s where we can get them to the kids.”
She explained why she believes access to books is especially crucial for underserved youths.
“The ability to read is the cornerstone of your ability to function as part of society,” she said. But beyond that, “The ability to read can be your emotional cornerstone, your everyday well-being, your imagination.”
As children begin learning to read, Daly said, to her, “it’s inconceivable that one can develop literacy skills without access to books.”
And she noted that doesn’t just mean paper books but e-books as well.
“I really feel like the gap in education is going to get deeper and wider because of what’s happened in the last year,” Daly said. “I know there will be a clear line between underprivileged kids and kids in more well-served districts, but it’s also going to be a gap in impact between kids who responded to virtual learning and kids who don’t respond” well to it.
“With the realities of a digital divide among communities across New Jersey,” Daly said, “kids who needed books from us before the pandemic need them even more now.”
Even with all the uncertainties facing Bridge of Books, the foundation has still been working with many other organizations across the state to meet the needs of children affected by the pandemic, Daly said.
“We are figuring out how to get books to these kids.”
This article originally appeared in the May 6 – 12, 2021, print edition of The Two River Times.
