We’d be hard-pressed to find someone here at Scholastic who doesn’t think reading is the ultimate way to relax. But can reading a good book be so great that it’s therapeutic?

If you ask Mackenzie, one of our 2010 BE BIG winners, the answer is surely yes. When Mackenzie was diagnosed with a painful neurological condition, she would distract herself from the pain by reading a good book. And since reading helped get her mind off her pain, she wondered if it could work for other kids, too. She had a BIG idea to donate books to local hospitals and shelters and help kids there cope with their challenges – and today, her program has more than 46,000 books in six states that form “Shelter Libraries” – and those numbers are about to grow even BIGger!

Check out what she had to say:

Mackenzie showed us that something as simple as collecting book donations can lead to a nation-wide effect… It is so rewarding to see how children from all over are making BIG changes in their community!

Make sure to check back to hear about more of the 2010 winning BIG ideas, and find out more about the program here. – Scholastic Media