Expanding Access to Books: From Dusty Shelves to Eager Readers

Meet Daily Point of Light Award honoree Sahana Srikanth. Read her story, and nominate an outstanding volunteer or family as a Daily Point of Light.

Sahana Srikanth, 17, has always been an avid reader with a fascination for words, so when she started competing in spelling bees in third grade, it made sense. She had no way of knowing the outsized impact these bees would have on her life, but after several years of competition, her passion for language led to a passion for literacy and education equity. Then, at 13, she launched Young Learners Foundation.

By the end of October, Sahana will have rerouted nearly 18,000 books to children in book deserts in 26 locations within the U.S.—mainly Title I schools and Boys & Girls Clubs—as well as Kenya and Trinidad & Tobago through book drives and donations. She’s expanded significantly, partnered with the World Literacy Foundation and received $3,500 through grants and musical performances fundraisers. Most funds have supported shipping of books abroad, including approximately 1,350 collected through local middle school classrooms to a Kenyan orphanage via the African Library Project.

Sahana is also an advocate working with multiple organizations to prevent eating disorders and address equitable access to healthcare through policy. Reading remains one of her biggest hobbies.

Tell us about your volunteer role with Young Learners Foundation.

As the executive director, I dedicate around 10 hours per week to organizing book drives, donating books, hosting community events and developing youth literacy programs. Our books come from individual donations as well as local educators with unused stockpiles. We have a form system for the latter and coordinate volunteer pickups. I also oversee a 12-person executive team and mentor our state directors with whom I work to develop book drives in their own communities.

What inspired you to get started with this initiative?

In 2022, I competed in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, DC., meeting many people who were as passionate about language as me. I placed in the top 10 in the country and came home motivated to get more involved in the literacy space. I wanted to mentor other spellers, especially those without access to the resources that I had. Spelling bee mentorship can be very expensive.

So, I worked with the Boys & Girls Club to host a spelling bee vocabulary workshop targeted to third through sixth grade. They were having fun, but I noticed kids struggling with words that were significantly below their grade level. After talking to them, I realized that not all of their schools had books, and that was unique to me, because my district has classroom libraries for virtually every teacher.

In the U.S., alone 32 million kids are living in book deserts with limited access to books. That’s about three times the population of the state of Ohio. Studies show that having books at home is one of the biggest predictors of future literacy success. That inspired me to do something about it. Growing up, I spent the majority of my time immersed in books. So, I started hosting book drives and donating to organizations like Boys & Girls Clubs and Title I schools.

Ms. Jill Hartsock, a former teacher, has also been an inspiration. Her support of my work means a lot. She taught me what a growth mindset is when I was in third grade, and I’ve carried that with me for the past 10 years.

What are your long-term plans or goals for the organization?

A few schools have requested bilingual or Spanish books. The majority of our books are in English, so we’re trying to build a stronger system for acquiring those in order to serve Spanish-speaking communities and inspire bilingual learners. We recently acquired a grant from the Matt Kurtz Kindness Foundation for that purpose. I want to collaborate more with schools that serve marginalized populations so we don’t exclude anyone.

A second goal is deepening our partnerships with Boys & Girls Clubs, because they serve youth after school. We’d love to set up libraries at clubs we’ve collaborated with in the past so that when kids are hanging out, they can pick up a book.

What’s been the most rewarding part of your work?

It’s fulfilling to see kids run to our table at events to pick books. It makes me so happy, because if they haven’t been able to choose a book based on what they’re interested in and not based on money, this might be the first time they’re picking books they truly want to read.

What have you learned through your experiences as a volunteer?

Positive feedback from our recipients has convinced me that youth-led work can be just as impactful as work led primarily by adults. I am so proud of everything that we’ve been able to do. We’re all 16 or 17 years old, but even younger volunteers have been able to do so much—sorting and packing books, calling organizations, emailing, creating resources…

I’ve also learned about literacy as an environmental concern. Every year, around 10 million trees are wasted for the production of unread books, and 320 million books get dumped in landfills. That fact has reinforced our motivation to find homes for gently-used books.

Any advice for new volunteers?

Illiteracy isn’t just an issue for people living in far off locations like Sub-Saharan Africa. It’s a problem right here, two hours away from where I live. Similar things can be said for other issues. To youth leaders looking to advance their service, look locally. Figure out what’s an issue for people a few minutes or hours away from where you live. Those are often the people who will need your help the most because you’re so close by.

What do you want people to learn from your story?

If you have a goal, you can fulfill it with passion, hard work and persistence. It took us so long to acquire the resources, the momentum and the system, to be able to acquire books, find recipients and get them there. It took a lot of patience, but our team really wanted to see this happen, and we achieved it in the end.

Do you want to make a difference in your community like Sahana? Find local volunteer opportunities.