With a wave of their wands, members of The Book Fairies organization arrived at Northwest School with hundreds of free books for first-, second- and third-grade students on Dec. 4.

Since 2012, The Book Fairies, a non-for-profit organization that collects and distributes reading materials for people in need through metropolitan New York, has donated a quarter of a million new and gently used books. Prior to each of the four free book fairs the organization hosts a year, a reading specialist levels the books to ensure they are grade-appropriate.

While visiting the free book fair with their classmates, students circulated the room to decide which books they wanted to take home. Assisted by members from the organization, each student selected two books and received a bookmark.

“We want to help kids build their own home libraries,” said The Book Fairies Founder Amy Zaslansky.