Reading is a lifelong skill that never dulls. But to develop that skill, children need books.
Founded in 2018, Indy Book Project has given away more than 241,000 books to Hoosier children. Based in Zionsville, the nonprofit volunteer organization collects books for children ages 0-18 and distributes those items around the Indianapolis metropolitan area, ensuring kids get a chance to lose themselves in a good book.
“We have an incredibly supportive community,” Executive Director Amy Freytag said. “We collect gently used and new books from the community and then we sort them, we clean them, we sticker them and we redistribute them through community centers, other nonprofits, food pantries, pediatricians’ offices, schools and Little Free Libraries.”
The organization operates with a simple premise: children need books.
“As hard as it is to believe, there are children who are growing up in homes and they don’t have any books,” Freytag said. “These areas with little print in their homes are called book deserts. Research has shown that having a home library increases the chance of academic success and vocabulary development and even job attainment. It’s critical, having books at home. And it starts young.”
A former teacher, Freytag said the organization prioritizes providing books not only to children but to their parents to read to them while they are still in the toddler years.
“It’s an important component to developing those lifelong literacy skills,” she said. “Just having 20 books in a house makes an incredible difference. So, that is our goal, making sure these kids have books in their homes.”
Freytag said people might not realize exactly how many homes lack children’s books.
“We have a local pediatrician who we have given books to for quite a while, and she said you might be surprised by how many families come in and don’t have books at home,” she said. “There definitely is a need.”
Organizations that Indy Book Project partners with generally serve a population where at least 50 percent of the children involved are Medicaid-eligible, are on free or reduced lunch or come from low-income families. But it’s not a requirement.
“We give to everybody, because everybody benefits from books at home,” Freytag said. “We serve the entire greater Indianapolis area, and we’ve been contacted by places elsewhere in Indiana for books. If we have the books, we give them. Our mission is to ensure all kids have access to books in their house. So, our focus is really on book ownership and getting books into places where kids will have them in their homes. Also big for us is choice in books — allowing kids to choose which books they select to take home and making sure we have a diverse selection so all kids can find a book that they can see themselves in.”
In addition to distributing books to organizations and individuals, Indy Book Project participates at special events where books are distributed, including farmers markets, back-to-school events and Stories in the Park in Zionsville.
“There’s nothing like being at these events and seeing these kids pick out books,” Freytag said. “There’s just nothing like seeing the joy in their eyes and on their faces when they are able to select their book and take it for free.”
So far in 2024, Indy Book Project has distributed more than 50,000 books — the majority of which were gently used books donated by the community.
Organizations and individuals who wish to request books can fill out a request form at indybookproject.org.
ONE BOOK AT A TIME
Indy Book Project was founded in 2018 by Gina Sprenger, who had moved to the area from North Carolina. Sprenger was an active volunteer with the Durham, N.C., nonprofit Book Harvest, but couldn’t find a similar organization in the Indianapolis area.
As someone passionate about book access, Sprenger reached out to the community to see if others were interested.
“She modeled it very similarly to how Book Harvest runs their organization,” Indy Book Project Executive Director Amy Freytag said. “She ran it out of her garage.”
Sprenger moved back to North Carolina in 2022, but the organization had grown enough to carry on, renting out office space in Zionsville and appointing Freytag, who was already an active volunteer, volunteer coordinator and board member, as executive director. Freytag works part time and is the organization’s only paid employee — all other members are 100 percent volunteer.
“We have an incredible base of very dedicated and loyal volunteers,” she said.
Volunteers with Indy Book Project come into the office whenever donated books need to be cleaned, sorted and organized for giveaways — sometimes as often as three times a week. Freytag said some volunteers work as book stewards for Little Free Libraries all around the Indianapolis area, picking up books from the office in Zionsville and ensuring that little libraries in the region remain full.
The organization accepts donations of new and gently used books in both English and Spanish for children aged 0-18. Indy Book Project does not accept books for adults, books with high religious content, coloring books, reference books like dictionaries or thesauruses, activity books or books with extensive wear and tear.
“For kids where this may be the only book they have, we want it to be a book that they’re really going to cherish,” Freytag said. “We want to promote reading for pleasure and really hook kids on the enjoyment of reading, not as something that they have to do because they’ve been told to.”
A book drop for donations is located at the Indy Book Project office, 1539 W. Oak St. in Zionsville. Donation bins are also available at Curious Squirrel Bookshop and 4Kids Books and Toys in Zionsville.
To donate funds or books, host a book drive or volunteer, visit indybookproject.org/get-involved.
