
16 Aug “IF I CAN CREATE LIBRARIES, YOU CAN DO SOMETHING AMAZING, TOO!”
For me, books open up a whole world of creativity, imagination and learning. I can be in my room reading and the next thing I know, I’m on Mars eating S’mores with aliens. So, when I was visiting the Bahamas with my parents and I learned that the town we were in didn’t have any libraries, I wanted to change that for the kids who lived there. But I wasn’t sure how. Then, one day, when we were in the car driving on the expressway in Miami, I saw a small lawn trailer and I thought, “I can convert that into my library!” I wanted something that was easy and portable.
With my parents’ help, I purchased a lawn trailer. I asked a local artist to decorate it, and he did. I asked for books, and they were donated. And that’s how we turned the trailer into a mini-library where kids could grow, learn and be creative.
After hearing about my library in the Bahamas, I got a call from the people at Omni Park. They wanted me to build a mini-library in their pop-up park adjacent to I-395. Again, I asked for a shipping container, got an artist to paint it, and collected donated books. Today, anyone can go, sit and read in the middle of a downtown Miami park.
Philanthropy is about seeing a problem and finding the resources to fix it. I want people to go find an issue in their community. Second, find the resources that are available to address it. And third, make it happen. I’m only 12 years old. If I can find a way to create libraries, you can do something amazing, too!
Taylor Moxey is an entrepreneur, author and philanthropist.
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