TEMPLE, Texas- On Wednesday, ten year old twins Rohan and Asha completed their goal of donating 300 books to the McLane Children’s Hospital. Just in time for Read Across America Day.
“Our goal is to give every kid that is hospitalized in McLane’s Children Hospital a book,” says Rohan.
The Loving Library will now give all patients at McLane Children’s, from infancy to 18 years of age, access to a book.
“Happy, excited. Because it’s probably boring being in one room the whole day, and they probably want to do something different,” says Asha.
After weeks of fundraising, the twins were finally able to open their loving library at McLane’s Children’s Hospital.
“Our family friend, Nate, we saw what he was doing and we wanted to help, he lives in phoenix so we decided to start one,” says Asha.
Asha and Rohan say they love reading and want to give this gift to those who need it the most.
“I like mystery books. It gives like space books and history books,” says both of twins.
The book donations can help child life specialists and parents create a sense of normalcy for patients while in the hospital.
“So it just seemed like one big group that never gets any books while they are there,” says Asha.
Donations to the loving library at McLane Children’s can be made year round.
“People can help by giving books, donations or money donations then we’ll go buy the books”
Asha and Rohan hope this project lasts for a long time and continues to bring joy to those in McLane’s children hospital.
Anaik’s Loving Library Brings Books to Hospitalized Children in Austin
Created by a 9-year-old boy on a mission to help others through literature, the nonprofit chose Central Texas as the location of its second chapter.
Anaik Sachdev, a 9-year-old boy from Arizona, stole the hearts of his community during the pandemic when he started a mission to collect books for those in need. It began when his grandmother was diagnosed with COVID and sent to recover alone, in a hospital room with no windows. Sachdev decided that though he couldn’t heal her, he could improve her life by sending her things to read–and with that, a movement was born.
With the help of his mother, Anjleen Gumer, Sachdev created Anaik’s Loving Library, a nonprofit that launches book drives for communities in need with special wish lists to keep the donations organized.
Gumer emphasizes the ability—and importance—of children helping other children. “There weren’t a lot of opportunities for kids this young to be actively involved. And see the impact of giving and how much happiness it can give you?” she says. “I think this has been really cool to involve our children in this whole process, and actually have them lead the way. It’s inspirational, I think, to see this future generation caring so much.”
Anaik’s Loving Library chose Central Texas as the location of their second chapter, which launched in October with the help of two of Anaik’s friends. Since then, the nonprofit has partnered with Baylor Scott & White Hospital, including their kid’s division, McLane Children’s Hospital. Interested in getting involved? Check out their wish list here.
