Ethan and Jackson Levenstien bring Little Lev Library to Melville
Brothers Jackson (left) and Ethan Levenstien recently built a new outdoor library, the Little Lev Library, at Temple Beth Torah in Melville. Credit: Janet Levenstien
Two Dix Hills brothers are working to promote childhood literacy.
Ethan and Jackson Levenstien, both students at West Hollow Middle School in Melville, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony in the fall to unveil a small outdoor library, Little Lev Library, on the grounds of Temple Beth Torah in Melville. The siblings also launched an ongoing book drive that has yielded more than 2,000 books, which they use to restock the little library each week.
The brothers chose the name because “Lev” is both a shortened version of their last name as well as the Hebrew word for “heart,” they said.
“I was inspired to do this because I was volunteering at Mercy Soup Kitchen [in Wyandanch], and I wondered: if people don’t have food, then their kids probably don’t have books to entertain them and increase their education,” said Ethan, 13, who attended Hebrew school at the temple and is now involved in its teen programs. “So, I thought it would be amazing to create a little library where children and adults can take books for free.”
To fund the project, Ethan wrote an essay about the need for a little library at the temple and secured a roughly $500 grant from Kindness Grows Here, a nonprofit based in Gambrills, Maryland, dedicated to fostering kindness in children. They used the funds to purchase a premade little library — which is essentially a wooden cabinet with shelves on a standing post — and then decorated around it with a bed of rocks.
Ethan and Jackson have also encouraged friends and family to donate books, with their mother, Janet Levenstien, posting about their collection efforts on social media. The family stores the books at their home and gives excess books to organizations including the Gerald J. Ryan Outreach Center in Wyandanch.
“It makes me really happy that people finally can get books instead of actually buying books online,” said Jackson, 11.
The brothers’ efforts were praised by the temple’s associate rabbi, Rachel Wiesenberg, who said she “couldn’t be more proud of them.”
“The real expectation is that this will open up another outlet in the world of reading and hopefully give the gift of literacy to families that are living below the poverty line,” Wiesenberg said.
The library’s ribbon-cutting ceremony, which attracted about 100 people, included activities such as giveaways of temporary book tattoos and homemade bookmarks featuring the logo of the Little Lev Library. It was also attended by Suffolk County Legis. Tom Donnelly (D-Deer Park), who issued the siblings Certificates of Recognition.
“Ethan and Jackson are sharing their own personal loves for reading with the community by making access to books exciting, fun and free,” Donnelly said. “Reading spreads knowledge, and the Little Lev Library is a wonderful way for previously loved books to find their way into new homes and be discovered and enjoyed all over again.”
Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.
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