Meet Tam Spitzer, 2023 Jefferson Award winner

It may look like an ordinary storage facility.

But Tam Spitzer has turned three units into a veritable library.

From floor to ceiling, there are boxes of books carefully collected and catalogued by the nonprofit Budding Readers.

Those books go to parents of children 3 and younger at no cost.

Spitzer, a former psychology professor at St. John Fisher University for more than three decades, took over the organization in 2011 – and has since expanded its reach.

For Spitzer, these books are the gateway to a lifetime of learning. A gateway so many children lack.

“We have a good number of teachers on our board, retired teachers. and some that taught kindergarten and preschool and they’ll tell me about kids who come to school and they don’t know which way a book works,” Spitzer said.

Learn more about Spitzer during a special program airing at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 3 on News10NBC.