Recognizing an Opportunity: Minh Nguyen and Project Booknet

When Minh Nguyen, a student at the Boston Latin School, saw the many books the school was throwing out during its renovation, he was sure there were many other places that could use those books. Minh decided to approach a teacher at the school with the idea of distributing free books. He then mobilized a group of eight friends. Together, they collected, sorted, and boxed up thousands of books. And in just a few weeks, they had distributed all the books to eager schools, libraries, and community programs.

By writing grants, getting donations from individuals, and allying with publishing houses that had been throwing away leftover (brand new!) books, Minh turned his original idea into a nonprofit organization called Project Booknet (PBN). As PBN grew, the organization came up with other creative ways to distribute books: holding a citywide book fair and sending books to children at local hospitals, churches, and even to a missionary school for orphans in Ghana. However, there were many challenges. Minh recounts that at first it was difficult to be taken seriously because he was a teenager. Also, it was hard for many other students to commit to the program because it was so time consuming.

Minh identifies the following steps to achieving his goal:

1. Identify a need,
2. Set a goal,
3. Determine the operational standards,
4. Get Motivated,
5. Work until the goal is met, and
6. Adapt to possible fluctuations in needs, goals, operational standards, and motivations.

Today, Minh attends college, and although he is no longer involved with PBN, it is still run by students at Boston Latin School. To those youth who would like to positively impact their communities, Minh simply advises:"Be comfortable. Be smart. Be motivated and always follow through."