BookEnds is up to its elbows in two things that I love – kids and books!  There are so many fun things our Directors of Programs get to do:  engage in warm interactions with excited recipient students, discuss the most recent reading strategies with educators, jump up and down with donor students at a pep rally for a bookdrive, find treasured childhood books in a giant stack of collected kid’s books, etc. etc.     



But, I’m not out in the field doing the “fun stuff”.  I’m the Associate Director of BookEnds, and I spend much of my time sitting at my desk managing, organizing, facilitating, strategizing, consolidating, structuring, coordinating, arranging, controlling, enabling, smoothing, helping, expediting, maneuvering, forming, planning and directing the various puzzle pieces that must work together perfectly for this (or any) nonprofit to function effectively.

But here’s my secret:  I think I’m the one who has the real fun stuff to do!  I’m the one in the office when a retired teacher comes in and hands over his cherished book collection and shares favorite teaching moments, it’s me who receives books from a proud mom whose son just left for college,  I get to shake the hand of a glowing girl scout who just got a coveted merit badge because of her book drive, I open the box of books that’s been shipped from out of state by a booklover who sent no note but just wants their favorite books to get into the hands of kids, and, it’s me who opens the mail every day and gets to read all of the wonderful thank you letters we get from excited readers!  

And here’s another secret – all that stuff I do when I sit at my desk?  I think that’s fun too!


Gayle Baigelman
Associate Director
BookEnds