A Florida teenager who turned a bat mitzvah project into a successful library for homeless kids has just won a National Book Foundation award. She is the youngest recipient of the award. 

Lilli Leight was just 12-years-old when upon seeing that the children at the homeless shelter where she volunteered turned to T.V.or other media because they didn't have any books to read, she decided to start a book collection drive. Her mother told The Miami Herald that Lilli "was trying to think what more she could do because it was irking her" (seeing that the children had no books to read). So she decided instead of receiving gifts for her bar mitzvah, Leight asked her guests to bring books for the library she envisioned setting up at the shelter.

Now three years later, she has collected at least 5,000 books for the downtown Miami homeless shelter where she continues to volunteer. The books are donated from individuals as well as local bookstores that she's partnered with so she can continue to stock books, allowing the children to keep the books they pick.  In addition to collecting the books, Leight has dedicated her time to reading to children at the shelter, writing book blurbs and starting and managing a monthly book club. Moreover, Lilli has engaged her friends and family in her project by getting them to also volunteer at the shelter. 

Lilli's application was one of 300 that the National Book Foundation received this year and she was one of five award recipients who was honored for promoting literature and reading. The award comes with a $2500 award and a trip to New York City where Lilli will be making presentations on her project. 

"The thing with Lilli's [project] is she connected things beautifully. She took something you do alone and found so many ways to involve the wider community," said Leslie Shipman, director of programs for the foundation.