Local High School Student Builds Environmentally-Themed Children’s Libraries for YMCA Early Learning Center

Joey Piergiovanni, a rising senior at Eastchester High School, has launched a community initiative to foster environmental awareness among young children by creating two environmentally-themed libraries for the YMCA of Central Northern Westchester’s Early Learning Center in Valhalla.

Joey began the project earlier this year by organizing book drives in Chappaqua and Pleasantville. With donation bins placed at Scattered Books and The Village Bookstore, local families contributed new and gently used children’s books focused on nature and the environment. To supplement the donations, Joey launched a GoFundMe campaign, raising $300 from generous community members to purchase additional books and materials to build the libraries.

The result: two custom-built library stations filled with more than 40 books, now housed in the YMCA’s Early Learning classrooms. The books will be rotated between classrooms to promote sustainability, reusability, and broader exposure for students reinforcing Joey’s mission to educate and inspire through environmental themes.

In the accompanying photo, Joey is pictured with Kaitlyn Westhoff, Assistant Director of the Valhalla YMCA, alongside one of his completed libraries.

“This project combines my passion for the environment with my goal of promoting further awareness in the next generation,” said Joey. “I wanted to create something lasting that encourages young children to appreciate the world around them and to understand how they can help protect it.”

Joey’s interest in environmental education was sparked during his volunteer work at the Greenburgh Nature Center, where he spent several years helping children engage with wildlife and learn about ecosystems. “At the nature center, I helped kids overcome their fear of animals like snakes and lizards by explaining how important these creatures are to our ecosystem,” Joey recalled. “Watching their curiosity grow and seeing their faces light up when they learned something new really inspired me.”

Joey hopes his library project will plant the seeds of environmental awareness in the next generation.

“By introducing environmental topics at an early age, we can inspire children to become more mindful of nature and to take action—no matter how small—to care for our planet,” he said. “Education is the first step toward conservation.”