Bookleggers is a nonprofit mobile library located in Miami, Florida that expands access to free books as a way of building community.
Bookleggers is a nonprofit mobile library located in Miami, Florida that expands access to free books as a way of building community.
Bookleggers was founded in 2012 by Nathaniel Sandler. Founded with the mission to save books and share them with the community for free. Sandler stated, "We're trying to keep history, culture, and books alive." [1]
Since its beginning, Bookleggers brought free books to people in South Florida. Through pop-up events and partnerships with organizations like O’Miami, The Underline, and Bakehouse Art Complex, [2] [1] Bookleggers has circulated over 35,000 books making reading accessible to more in the city. Its mission gained increasing significance as bookstores faced closures and libraries struggled with budget cuts. [3]
Bookleggers has been an active participant in local events throughout South Florida, bringing free books to communities from the Everglades National Park and Key West to Biscayne Bay. [4] [5]
Bookleggers has rescued books from across South Florida, including a significant haul from the Miami Herald's former office building. [1] The Miami community has also played a crucial role in building Bookleggers' collection, donating a diversity of literature. [6]
In 2020, the organization received a $250,000 grant from the Knight Foundation [7] to support its digital expansion and post-COVID adaptation. This funding enabled Bookleggers to develop programs, fund staff and leadership, and evolve as a donation-based library reflecting Miam's cultural diversity.
Bookleggers programming has changed in response to community needs incorporating new dimensions that Sandler refers to as “bookmobility”. [8] With both in-person events and digital programs, Bookleggers have developed different projects such as Bookbike, library trailer, Adventure-leggers [9] [8] [10] and installations. At the same time they have created a digital presence with projects such as Booklandia and Storytime Podcast. [8] [11] [12]
Monroe County is the southernmost county of the state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 82,874. Its county seat is Key West. Monroe County includes the islands of the Florida Keys and comprises the Key West-Key Largo Micropolitan Statistical Area. Over 99.9% of the county's population lives on the Florida Keys. The mainland, which is part of the Everglades, comprises 87% of the county's land area and is virtually uninhabited with only 17 people recorded in the 2020 census.
The Everglades is a natural region of flooded grasslands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orlando with the Kissimmee River, which discharges into the vast but shallow Lake Okeechobee. Water leaving the lake in the wet season forms a slow-moving river 60 miles (97 km) wide and over 100 miles (160 km) long, flowing southward across a limestone shelf to Florida Bay at the southern end of the state. The Everglades experiences a wide range of weather patterns, from frequent flooding in the wet season to drought in the dry season. Throughout the 20th century, the Everglades suffered significant loss of habitat and environmental degradation.
Islandia is an unincorporated community and former city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is located in the upper Florida Keys on the islands of Elliott Key and other nearby keys, such as Totten Key. It was the only municipality in the Florida Keys not located in neighboring Monroe County. The population was 18 at the 2010 Census. Most residents of the city were National Park Service employees.
Biscayne National Park is a national park of the United States located south of Miami, Florida, in Miami-Dade County. The park preserves Biscayne Bay and its offshore barrier reefs. Ninety-five percent of the park is water, and the shore of the bay is the location of an extensive mangrove forest. The park covers 172,971 acres and includes Elliott Key, the park's largest island and northernmost of the true Florida Keys, formed from fossilized coral reef. The islands farther north in the park are transitional islands of coral and sand. The offshore portion of the park includes the northernmost region of the Florida Reef, one of the largest coral reefs in the world.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas was an American journalist, author, women's suffrage advocate, and conservationist known for her staunch defense of the Everglades against efforts to drain it and reclaim land for development. Moving to Miami as a young woman to work for The Miami Herald, she became a freelance writer, producing over one hundred short stories that were published in popular magazines. Her most influential work was the book The Everglades: River of Grass (1947), which redefined the popular conception of the Everglades as a treasured river instead of a worthless swamp. Its impact has been compared to that of Rachel Carson's influential book Silent Spring (1962). Her books, stories, and journalism career brought her influence in Miami, enabling her to advance her causes.
The Miami Herald is an American daily newspaper owned by The McClatchy Company and headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Founded in 1903, it is the fifth-largest newspaper in Florida, serving Miami-Dade, Broward, and Monroe counties.
Xavier Ignacio Cortada is an American eco artist, public artist, and former lawyer. As a National Science Foundation Antarctic Artists and Writers Program fellow and a New York Foundation for the Arts-sponsored Artist, Cortada created works at the North Pole and South Pole to generate awareness about global climate change.
A bookmobile, or mobile library, is a vehicle designed for use as a library. They have been known by many names throughout history, including traveling library, library wagon, book wagon, book truck, library-on-wheels, and book auto service. Bookmobiles expand the reach of traditional libraries by transporting books to potential readers, providing library services to people in otherwise underserved locations and/or circumstances. Bookmobile services and materials, may be customized for the locations and populations served.
The Wolfsonian–Florida International University or The Wolfsonian-FIU, located in the heart of the Art Deco District of Miami Beach, Florida, is a museum, library and research center that uses its collection to illustrate the persuasive power of art and design. For fifteen years, The Wolfsonian has been a division within Florida International University.
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, also known as the Knight Foundation, is an American non-profit foundation that provides grants for journalism, communities, and the arts.
The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County is a performing arts center located in Miami, Florida. It is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. According to Arts Management Magazine, the Arsht Center presents artists from around the world, innovative programming from its three resident companies and local arts partners, free community events that reflect Miami’s identity and arts education experiences for thousands of Miami children each year. Family Fest, Free Gospel Sundays, CommuniTea LGBTQ+ celebration and Heritage Fest are among dozens of free events the Arsht Center presents to bring together people from all walks of life to celebrate each other through the live performing arts. Since 2020, the Arsht Center has presented more than 100 pop-up performances at hospitals, parks and libraries in communities throughout Miami-Dade County.
Alberto Ibargüen became President and CEO of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation in Miami, Florida in 2003. He is the former publisher of The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald in Miami, Florida. Under his leadership, The Miami Herald won three Pulitzer Prizes; El Nuevo Herald won Spain's Ortega y Gasset Prize for excellence in journalism. Ibargüen was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2022. As of March 2023, Ibargüen announced his intention to retire as Knight Foundation CEO.
The Miami-Dade Public Library System (MDPLS) is a system of libraries in Miami-Dade County, Florida.
The Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM)—officially known as the Jorge M. Pérez Art Museum of Miami-Dade County—is a contemporary art museum that relocated in 2013 to the Maurice A. Ferré Park in Downtown Miami, Florida. Founded in 1984 as the Center for the Fine Arts, it became known as the Miami Art Museum from 1996 until it was renamed in 2013 upon the opening of its new building designed by Herzog & de Meuron at 1103 Biscayne Boulevard. PAMM, along with the $275 million Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science and a city park which are being built in the area with completion in 2017, is part of the 20-acre Maurice A. Ferré Park.
Publication of Archival, Library & Museum Materials (PALMM) is a cooperative initiative of the public universities of Florida in the United States to provide a central repository for smaller digital collections. In addition to contributing to PALMM, universities in Florida also host and maintain separate individual digital collections as well as many large collaborative projects. In September 2011, Florida's Council of State University Libraries selected SobekCM to power a common digital library system across the state, replacing the software currently powering the PALMM collections.
Everglades University, formerly known as the American Flyers College, is a private university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, and several other campuses throughout the state. Everglades offers bachelor's and master's degree programs, both via online and on-campus.
Mary Barr Munroe was a Scottish-born American clubwoman and conservationist, based in Miami, Florida. Munroe founded the Coconut Grove Audubon Society and library, and worked for the establishment of a state park that became part of the Everglades National Park.
Poinciana was a planned community that was to be located along the Lostmans River in Monroe County, Florida. Poinciana has been described as the Everglades's "most spectacular commercial enterprise" and "the prototype of all Florida scams".
Bakehouse Art Complex is an arts organization in Miami, Florida, United States. Founded in 1985, it comprises studio spaces, art production facilities, galleries, and educational programming.
Barbara N. Young is an art librarian, curator, and former Art Services administrator for the Miami-Dade Public Library System (MDPLS). During her tenure, she oversaw the Artmobile service and co-founded The Vasari Project, an archive of Miami's art history from 1945 onward, with art critic, historian, and writer Helen L. Kohen. Young is known for her role in documenting, preserving, and supporting the art world of Miami.