KGI

Keren Grinspoon Israel Ltd
a Public Benefit Organization

Keren Grinspoon Israel (KGI) is the founder and operator of the Sifriyat Pijama and Maktabat al-Fanoos programs.

Founded in 2009 as a public benefit organization, Keren Grinspoon Israel (KGI) aims to increase the number of quality books in Israeli children’s homes and instill a love of reading in their hearts. KGI does this exclusively through two programs, Sifriyat Pijama and Maktabat al-Fanoos.

Sifriyat Pijama

This daycare, pre-K, kindergarten, and school-age program is based on a sister program in the U.S. known as PJ Library. It provides Hebrew language children’s books to nearly 350,000 children that encourage meaningful discussions about values and emotions, beginning in the classroom and continuing in homes and communities. This also creates unique opportunities for children to celebrate being part of Israel’s diverse range of identities, histories, and cultural traditions. 

Maktabat al-Fanoos

In 2014, Keren Grinspoon Israel, in partnership with the Israeli Ministry of Education and Price Philanthropies, founded an Arabic language program called Maktabat al-Fanoos (Lantern Library). This program is offered in kindergartens and elementary schools (soon to be expanded to day care), gifting culturally appropriate books for Israel’s Arab community based on universal values and social-emotional learning to nearly 200,000 children. 

Click here to visit the Maktabat al-Fanoos website.

Keren Grinspoon Israel, in partnership with the Israeli Ministry of Education and Price Philanthropies, founded an identical program in Arabic in 2014 called Maktabat al-Fanoos (Lantern Library). This program is offered in kindergartens and elementary schools in Israeli Arab society, gifting books to nearly 200,000 children.

Click here to visit the Maktabat al-Fanoos website

Keren Grinspoon Israel (KGI) is an independent unaffiliated entity. It is registered in the Israeli Corporations Authority as a public-benefit organization, and has been certified by the latter as a properly-managed non-for-profit entity, as well as by the Israeli tax authorities for all relevant tax purposes. KGI makes no profit from distributing its books, including paid books. Donations to KGI are in compliance with Israeli income tax donation laws (Section 46 of the Income Tax Ordinance).

Keren Grinspoon Israel (KGI) works in collaboration with the following partners and supporters:

• The Max and Marian Farash Charitable Foundation
• The Abraham and Sonia Rochlin Foundation
• The Jewish Federation of San Francisco Fund
• Wiener Philanthropy   

Awards:

Keren Grinspoon Israel (KGI), founder and operator of Sifriyat Pijama and Maktabat al-Fanoos, in partnership with the Israeli Ministry of Education, was named a Best Practices Honoree for 2020 by the U.S. Library of Congress. 

The experts who recommended KGI’s nomination for this honor noted that it operates “the most active book-gifting programs in the world,” citing the high percentage of Israeli children who take part and the number of years during which they receive books. Sifriyat Pijama and Maktabat al-Fanoos give out over 3.5 million books each year to more than 525,000 children.

Each year since 2013, the US Library of Congress pays tribute to 15 organizations worldwide that promote literacy and unique methods of literacy education. KGI is the first Israeli organization to receive this honor.