Have you ever seen a community join forces and create unshakeable change? One Long Island community became forever changed in August of 2018 when a beloved educator and mother unexpectedly passed away. Dr. Hindi Krinsky can best be described as a woman who put smiles on the faces of thousands of children worldwide by giving them the gift of literacy.
Meet Dovid Kanarfogel, who was married to Hindi, now heads Hindi’s Libraries along with business partner Leslie Gang. Dovid remembers the first time he saw Hindi; she had a stack of 30 books sitting on the café table and knew he was impressed from that moment. They married, and as the years passed, so did their family--with five beautiful children.
One morning in August 2018, Leslie Gang, then the Director of Communications and Admissions at a local Long Island private school received a devastating email. It was from Dovid, notifying her that his wife had unexpectedly died from a complication of Crohn’s disease. She was 32.
Immediately, Gang coordinated meals, helped Dovid, and cultivated a strong friendship. The two spoke about doing something to honor the legacy of this vibrant, beautiful woman and decided to build a freestanding library box to put in the school’s courtyard. The courtyard soon could no longer contain the books. This was the beginning of an organization that would one day provide over 475,000 books and counting. All in Dr. Hindi Krinsky’s name.
Each day, they seek to make Hindi proud with their efforts. They can be best described as a unique organization in honor of a remarkable woman doing extraordinary things to change the world: one book at a time.
We met up with Dovid to learn more about Hindi’s Libraries.
Our readers would love to learn the backstory of the organization. Tell us more.
The organization was founded in honor of one beautiful woman: Dr. Hindi Krinsky. Her love was literature and her dream—to build a community of readers. Passionate about continuing Hindi’s legacy, we started one “little free library” in her honor at the school where she taught. We intended to support her students and family but didn’t anticipate the outpouring of books and support we would receive.
The books never stopped coming, nor did our dedication to serving students. We are a Today Show Featured, International Literacy Non-Profit that has donated—100 percent free of charge to recipients—throughout all 50 states and internationally. We genuinely believe that handing a child a book can change their life, and we are committed to continuing Hindi’s legacy.
Please share with us the importance of book accessibility. How does handing a child a book change their life?
A recent Reading Literacy in the United States: Findings from the IEA Reading Literacy Study noted that 61 percent of low-income families have no suitable books for children in their homes. Here at Hindi’s
Libraries are committed to changing those statistics: one child at a time. Some of our recipients may not have been exposed to reading materials. We are highly committed to ensuring all children have age-appropriate and age-relevant books that excite and ignite their imaginations.
Explain what you mean by excite and ignite their imaginations.
Books offer an escape for children. We seek to provide a place between the pages of books where children can ignite their imagination and lean into dreaming regardless of their current circumstances. Empowering children through a love of literature, as Hindi would have wanted, is our accurate and primary goal.
Hindi’s Libraries have had the opportunity to partner with a wide range of organizations. Do you have any fascinating stories to share with us?
We’ve had the opportunity to partner and collaborate with many outstanding organizations, including Barnes and Noble, DHL, Disney Worldwide Publishing, and Avery Dennison.
However, one collaboration stands out to us. The most fascinating and inspiring moment was being approached by Victoria Isernia, a high school sophomore who had learned of our organization from her aunt—a Hindi’s Libraries book donation recipient. Taking the initiative, Victoria ran a massive book drive in New York, particularly Long Island. Her efforts resulted in a donation of more than 3,000 books. Watching a teenager feel empowered by our story, take the reins, and create such a successful project deeply humbled us.
How can our readers support your fantastic cause?
There are a multitude of ways to get involved! Our books are 100 percent free of cost to recipients, including shipping, which Hindi’s Libraries subsidize. To help offset this cost, we are always grateful for monetary donations that go directly to shipping more books to children.
Additionally, if you have gently used or new children’s books in your home, we are always grateful for donations to help keep our inventory stocked and place books into the hands of children who need them most.
Be sure to tell your friends and family about our organization! We would love to connect with you so that you can keep informed on our latest developments and initiatives.
For more information on Hindi’s Libraries, visit hindislibraries.org