Big Ideas in the Big Apple

PJ Library is piloting creative ways to reach families in metro New York.

By Margaret Piraino, Community Engagement and Events Coordinator

This story appeared in the summer 2026 issue of PROOF, a PJ Library magazine.

The PJ Library Bookmobile (exterior and interior shown above) has welcomed thousands of visitors in neighborhoods across metro New York.
PHOTOS BY ELIZABETH KORELITZ

PJ Library is constantly experimenting with new ways to reach more families and help them discover the joy of Jewish storybooks, no matter where they live or what being Jewish looks like to them. As the largest PJ Library community in the US and Canada, the metro New York area has become a test market for innovative ideas. From a traveling bookmobile to a historical scavenger hunt, our team has been exploring what it looks like to share Jewish stories beyond homes. The goal? To show children they can celebrate being Jewish everywhere, every day.

• In the summer of 2024, PJ Library’s New York team tried something new: a traveling book bus! The PJ Library Bookmobile made stops at four Brooklyn playgrounds over the course of one day, bringing stories and fun to families right in their neighborhoods. Encouraged by families’ enthusiasm, our bookmobile team hit the road for two weeks last summer and visited the entire metro New York area. The brightly colored book bus traversed all five boroughs plus Westchester and Long Island. In all, the bookmobile made 42 stops, welcomed 5,000 visitors, and distributed 6,000 preloved PJ Library books. The bookmobile also inspired families to pay it forward — many parents handed their children cash or coins for PJ Library’s tzedakah box on the bus so that even more families could experience the joy of PJ Library. Look out for the bookmobile again this summer!
• Kids can enjoy Jewish books anywhere, not just at home. Through our recent Books to Businesses initiative, PJ Library helped families encounter Jewish stories in places they already visit, such as doctors’ offices or play spaces. PJ Library partnered with over 50 local businesses across New York City, Long Island, and Westchester, bringing Jewish tales into everyday community spaces. “I love having these books in my pediatric speech therapy clinic in Lynbrook,” says Lily G., a speech and language pathologist and Books to Businesses partner. “We use them in sessions with families all the time. The kids light up when we read them together.”
• This past summer, PJ Library invited families to take a self-guided journey through New York City’s historic Lower East Side as part of the Great New York Scavenger Hunt. From Memorial Day through Labor Day, participants explored iconic neighborhood spots, uncovered stories of Jewish heritage, and celebrated Jewish immigrants’ lasting impact on the city via PJ Library books in the windows or interiors of nine local shops and restaurants. From pickles and pastrami to knishes and candies, families navigated and noshed their way through a lesson on the Jewish community’s melting pot history — and connected with PJ Library’s vast catalogue of books that explore Jewish immigrant life in the neighborhood over a century ago. “The Lower East Side and New York City in general has been forever changed by the Jewish immigrant experience,” says Meara Ashtivker, director of PJ Library in New York. “This scavenger hunt was designed to honor the generations that came before us.”