Lower Merion Couple Helps Sick Kids Turn the Page

The genius of literature, it's been said often and accurately, is that it enables readers to transcend their circumstances. It's the best kind of escapism. With the turn of a page, a bored accountant can be transported to 19th century Russia, a lonely school teacher to the throes of passionate affair, a city bus driver to the front of a foreign war.

And, sometimes, a good book can even take a sick kid to a place where they don't hurt so much. 

Last Friday, the LundyLaw Foundation and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) introduced the LundyLaw Library Express—a collection of mobile library carts that will bring books directly to CHOP's young patients, many of whom are so ill a trip to the hospital library is difficult. 

Gladwyne native and Lundy Law Foundation president Judy Lundy said the idea for the carts was hatched by Lundy Law employees as a way to memorialize Marvin Lundy, the firm's founder. 

“[We're] thrilled to partner with such a remarkable facility and to help bring books to children who might not otherwise have access to them," Lundy said.  

The LundyLaw Library Express will bring carts stocked with an array of new reading, coloring, and activity books to each of the nearly 500 beds at CHOP.

According to a PR firm that represents Lundy, medical studies have long shown that reading helps sick kids keep positive attitudes, which in turn promotes healing. 

Companies or individuals who want to participate in collecting new children’s books can get more information at lundylawlibraryexpress.org.