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About 2 minutesYour answers go to Pages of Joy and nowhere else
Pages of Joy is a youth-led literacy and educational-equity initiative. It began with one child collecting books to give away and has grown, since 2015, into book drives, distribution, permanent libraries, storytelling sessions, reading circles, English-learning programmes and — most recently — futures literacy. To date it has distributed 12,000+ books and established 11+ libraries across five Indian states.
The initiative started in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, and has since reached communities across five Indian states. The most sustained on-the-ground work — libraries, storytelling and English-learning sessions — has been in Tamil Nadu, including Chennai and Namakkal. Book distribution reaches considerably further, largely through volunteers and partner organisations.
It was founded by Vrishank Sai Anand, who began collecting books at around four or five years old, and it remains youth-led. The day-to-day work is carried by volunteers — students, parents, teachers and community members — alongside the schools and organisations that host libraries and sessions.
Children’s picture books, early readers, chapter books, young-adult fiction and non-fiction, illustrated reference books, atlases and activity books — in English and in Indian languages. Regional-language books for early readers are consistently our biggest shortage. Books should be in readable condition: intact spine, all pages, no heavy writing or damp damage. We cannot use outdated syllabus textbooks, magazines, promotional material, or anything damaged.
Every donated book is sorted by volunteers along reading age, language and condition. Sorted books either go directly to a school or community that has requested support, or become part of the stock that seeds a new library. Books we cannot place are passed to another literacy organisation rather than stored indefinitely.
Yes — schools run some of our most productive drives. You need a collection point, a window of roughly two to four weeks, and someone to champion it. We provide guidance on what to collect and handle sorting and placement. Schools that build the drive into an assembly or a class activity collect several times more than those that only put up a poster. Start with the “Organise a book drive” form.
Fill in the volunteer form and tell us what you would like to do. Volunteers help with storytelling sessions, book sorting, drives, distribution, English learning, library setup, photography and media, logistics, partnerships and futures-literacy work. Some roles are on the ground; others — sorting coordination, media, research — can be done remotely.
Yes. Use the Request Support form. It asks about the children you work with, the space available, what resources already exist and what you need. We use those answers to match books by reading level and language rather than sending a generic set. We respond to every request, including when we cannot help immediately.
Yes — 11+ so far. A Pages of Joy library is a permanent reading space with stock chosen for its readers, a simple borrowing system, and a named local host responsible for keeping it open. The host owns it from the day it opens; we supply stock, setup and ongoing restocking.
Volunteer-led reading sessions of roughly 30 to 45 minutes with a small group of children. A volunteer reads aloud and stops often to ask questions; about half the time is discussion. The aim is to change a child’s relationship with books — from something assigned to something chosen.
Traditional literacy helps children understand the world around them. Futures literacy helps them explore how the world could change, and gives them confidence to imagine, question and shape possible futures. At Pages of Joy it grows directly out of storytelling — the instinct children show when they ask what happens after the last page — and connects reading to imagination, critical thinking and agency. Workshops, a Futures Club and student resources are in development.
Yes. We work with schools, companies, non-profits, universities, media organisations and community groups — on book drives, library setup, sessions, logistics and reach. Use the “Partner with us” form and tell us what you have in mind; we will be straightforward about what we can and cannot commit to.
Several ways that do not involve shipping books internationally, which is rarely cost-effective. You can run a fundraiser so books can be bought locally where they are needed; volunteer remotely on media, research, translation or futures-literacy material; connect us with organisations or schools in India; or help with the sessions we run online. Get in touch and say where you are and what you can offer.
Most come to us — through a request form, a partner organisation, or a volunteer with a local connection. We prioritise places where there is somewhere for books to live, an adult who will take responsibility for them, and children who currently have little or no access. We are more likely to say yes to a modest, well-hosted request than an ambitious one with nobody to own it.
Apply through the chapter form. We reply within two weeks, agree a first project with you — usually one book drive — and send the drive pack. Once your first drive has been sorted and placed, your chapter is listed on the site. If you would rather test the water first, run a single book drive or volunteer; either can grow into a chapter later.
The site does not currently process financial donations, and Pages of Joy is not yet a registered nonprofit in the United States, so gifts to it are not tax-deductible. The most useful contributions are books, time and reach. If you or your organisation want to fund something specific — stocking a library, buying regional-language early readers, supporting a workshop — get in touch and we will explain exactly what it would pay for.