The Lantern Library

The Lantern Library is the nonprofit initiative of Levine Querido (LQ), founded by acclaimed children’s publisher Arthur A. Levine, and builds upon one of the nation’s most distinguished independent children’s publishers. Since its creation in 2019, LQ books have won the Newbery Medal, Caldecott Medal, National Book Award, and numerous other national recognitions. These accolades reflect LQ’s unwavering commitment to publishing books of exceptional literary and artistic merit that inspire young readers.

LQ’s list is distinguished by the breadth of voices and experiences it celebrates. LQ publishes books by and about Black, Latino/Latinx, LGBTQIA+, Native and Indigenous, and Jewish communities, immigrant and multilingual families, children with disabilities, and young people navigating identity, friendship, grief, belonging, and social-emotional growth. 

The Lantern Library partners with literacy organizations, schools, libraries, and community nonprofits to provide LQ’s award-winning books to children in under-resourced communities. Rather than simply distributing books, we help children build personal home libraries that encourage family reading, strengthen literacy, and create lasting access to stories they can return to throughout childhood.

Too many children grow up without books of their own. An estimated 45% of children in the United States live in a “book desert” — a neighborhood where access to age-appropriate books is severely limited. In many under-resourced communities, families cannot afford to purchase books, school libraries face chronic underfunding, and the books that do reach children through traditional donation channels are often secondhand, outdated, or fail to reflect the identities and experiences of the children receiving them.

Research consistently demonstrates that home book ownership is one of the strongest predictors of children’s academic achievement and long-term educational success — more predictive, in some studies, than parental education level. Children who own books read more frequently, perform better in school, and are more likely to develop the habits of lifelong learning. Yet for many young readers, owning a book remains a rare opportunity rather than an expectation.