Spreading a Love of Literature

One morning in August 2018, Leslie Gang, then the director of communications and admissions at the Long Island, N.Y., private school Hebrew Academy of Five Towns & Rockaway (HAFTR), received a devastating email. It was from David Kanarfogel, the husband of Hindi Krinsky, a beloved high school English teacher at HAFTR, notifying Gang his wife had died unexpectedly from a complication of Crohn’s disease. She was 32 and left behind five young children.

“Whenever I was recruiting for the high school, I always showcased Hindi,” Gang (’07) says. “She was this amazing, vibrant young woman who inspired anyone who sat with her for even 25 seconds.”

After Gang shared the sad news with the school, people began reaching out to help the family. Students offered to babysit. Parents wanted to cook them dinner. Gang even heard from local stores and restaurants who offered the family free meals and clothing. A karate studio offered the kids free lessons. “It’s hard enough two on five, but now he was one on five, and their baby was one year old,” says Gang. “I told David, ‘I’m getting all of these offers. I’m writing them down, and when you’re ready, I’ll explain what I’ve written down for you.’”

A few months later, when Kanarfogel was ready, he and Gang also spoke about doing something to honor Krinsky’s legacy. They sat down with the principal of HAFTR’s lower school to brainstorm ideas and settled on building a freestanding library box to put in the school’s courtyard. They asked every student in Kanarfogel and Krinsky’s then eight-year-old triplets’ grade to bring in one children’s book for the box. “Hindi was an advocate for literacy. If you said the name Kanarfogel, people at the school would be like, ‘Oh, are those the kids who were reading Harry Potter at five? I mean, this was a family of bookworms,” says Gang.

Word about the book collection spread.

“The principal called me a few weeks after this event [dedicating the library box] and said, ‘I’m just wondering, do you know why there are 500 books in my office?’” Gang realized they were dealing with something larger than a library box.

Building a Nonprofit

Gang and Kanarfogel kept some of the books for the library box but donated the rest to local organizations focused on giving books to those in need. They thought that would be it.

However, in the days and weeks that followed, stacks of additional books were left on their doorsteps. “One day we sat down with books all around us and we’re like, this is something bigger,” says Gang. “We could do something here—more than just haphazardly running around and dropping off books wherever we can.”

There were more books than we could physically give out to our community at once. So, we expanded our reach, and here we are today.

Leslie Gang

They formed their own nonprofit, Hindi’s Libraries.  

At first, their goal was to collect children’s books and more methodically distribute them to those in need within their local community.

Response was once again overwhelming. 

“There were more books than we could physically give out to our community at once. So, we expanded our reach, and here we are today.” 

Since founding Hindi’s Libraries, they’ve collected and distributed more than 400,000 books, sending them to more than 750 organizations—including schools, hospitals, doctor’s offices, foster care agencies and women’s shelters—in all 50 states and internationally. 

Beyond Books

Both Gang and Kanarfogel continue to work full time while managing Hindi’s Libraries (Gang is now director of communications at Brandeis Hebrew Academy in Lawrence, N.Y.). In spring 2022, they finally rented their first space to store and pack books. They had been working from their garages and kitchens. 

“We did this in such a rush because we had the books and we had to distribute them. Now, it’s time to take a step back and assess. Let’s build that foundation so that, for many years, the books can keep coming and going,” says Gang. “Being a PR major, I love doing out-of-the box things and right now, there’s no line—when we get what seems to be a wacky request for a collaboration, we’re probably going to do it.”

They have teamed up with businesses around New York, New Jersey and Connecticut where people can drop off books. If donors don’t have access to a convenient drop off location and have a substantial number of books to give, Gang says the organization will coordinate to have a volunteer pick up the donations. Donors can also ship books to the Hindi’s Libraries headquarters. 

Being a PR major, I love doing out-of-the box things and right now, there’s no line—when we get what seems to be a wacky request for a collaboration, we’re probably going to do it.

Leslie Gang

They’ve partnered with Girl Scout troops across the country, training them to run book drives. Gang says the troops are then given the choice of bringing the books to an organization in their area that she’s found and vetted, or shipping them to Hindi’s Libraries, which is part of a program that allows its donors to ship any number of books for a flat rate of $15. She once received a refrigerator-sized box filled with books.

Gang has also found ways to incorporate other charitable efforts. She’s collaborated with the nonprofit Kids Adopt a Shelter (KAS), which sets up pet food pantries around Long Island, for a Pages for Paws event. “It’s run by a mom and her son in memory of their dog, and I sent her a message, and it said something like, ‘You don’t know me, but I have a crazy idea. I’m going to spend the next month finding a major pet food company, and I want them to agree to match pet food for every book I get donated.’” 

Redbarn Pet Products agreed to match a donation of one day of pet food for every animal-themed book Hindi’s Libraries collected in April 2022. They received 3,000 books—including a shipment of 1500 from Scholastic—and fed 100 shelter animals for 30 days. To culminate their collaboration, Hindi’s Libraries and KAS cohosted a pet adoption event in May 2022, which included readings and book signings by authors of pet-themed children’s books.

For Earth Day 2022, Hindi’s Libraries partnered with the UK-based company Treedom, which plants trees around the world. “They actually give the farmers and the people in those communities lessons, and they support them so they can sustain their crops, like coffee trees or banana trees,” says Gang. She organized the Read Plant Repeat fundraiser in which every five books donated equaled one tree planted, ultimately sponsoring 50 trees. 

‘“There’s this sense that we’re not just about donating books—but let’s see what else or who else we can involve,” she says.

A Bigger Audience

In February 2022, Gang received a phone call from a Today Show producer. He invited her and Kanarfogel to come on the show the following month for a segment with Today’s third hour hosts Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager.

“So David and I, and David’s five kids, all went to their studio to film a prerecorded portion where we were interviewed by Jenna. The producer let us know when it would air, and I’m like, ‘Okay, great. I’ll make sure to record it.’ Then he’s like, ‘No, you’re coming in that day [for a live segment].’” Gang and Kanarfogel returned to Studio 1A, and were joined by Roseanna Gulisano, a librarian for PS11 in the Bronx, who had received a donation of books from Hindi’s Libraries. They spoke with Kotb and Hager about Krinsky’s impact and how the nonprofit is growing. Then, Hager turned to the camera to make an announcement: Kohl’s would be donating $10,000 to Hindi’s Libraries and 1,000 books to the PS11 library. 

“It was like a dream,” says Gang. “The best part is, that day, we got the attention of so many people, either saying, ‘I need books,’ ‘I have books,’ or ‘I want to help you get books into those kid’s hands.’ A lot of our new partnerships and new volunteers are people who saw us [on that segment].” 

As the organization grows, Gang hopes to find office space for volunteers. She also wants to set up Hindi’s Libraries chapters at colleges and universities and to expand the nonprofit internationally, training people to run what she calls HL hubs where they will identify local book recipients. 

“I want to expand this very easy way to do good to others who might be looking for a way to make an impact.”