Bailey Cherry: Girl Power Behind Sustainable Literacy

It is rare to come across young change-makers who took on the world, made a difference in their community and did it successfully on their own terms. Bailey Cherry did it when she was only 13.

Bailey conceptualised and launched the non-profit social enterprise Rebooked Hong Kong to promote sustainability in literacy. Little did she know this would become the most searchable online bookstore and the biggest store for secondhand English language children's books in Hong Kong, where she spent a chunk of her formative years with her parents.

Today, Bailey has collected over 80,000 books and has sold over 20,000 books. ReBooked has also shared over 15,000 books with other NGOs and charities.

"We have community partners where we donate the books and some of our proceeds. These include Refugee Union, children in quarantine, Heep Hong Society (which helps children with special education needs), and Angels for Children, among others," she continues.

Her big idea started with her mother while watching “Tidying Up With Marie Condo” Netflix series in the spring of 2019.

"We were all inspired by the show and started spring cleaning at home. We realised we had so many books. While it brought us joy, we knew we couldn't keep everything, and so we looked for an NGO that could pass on our much-loved children's titles to other book lovers in Hong Kong," recalls Bailey, now 16 years old.

14-year-old Bailey Cherry in 2020.

Sadly, Bailey couldn't find an organisation that could readily accept pre-loved children's books.

"We hesitated to hand them over to out-of-the-way secondhand shops. We were convinced there are other families like ours, happy to give a new home to a great story, and readers ready to give a used book a new home, if only it were more convenient," she says.

"I saw an opportunity to serve Hong Kong and decided to create a platform to enable a convenient, eco-friendly and accessible way to reuse pre-loved children's books. I wanted to make sure that my books ended up with other kids who would enjoy flipping through the pages as much as I did."

Bailey didn't need more prodding. She started doing her own market research and talked to family and friends, asking if they would donate their books or purchase them if they were second hand. Her research led her to alarming realisations.

One, if there weren't anyone that could distribute pre-loved children's books, then they would all be disposed of and end up in a landfill. “Hong Kong's waste problem is monumental. Today, 11 landfills are already full, and the remaining three are going to be filled up really soon.”

Two, children's books are getting more expensive every year. "Books in Hong Kong are mostly imported, and there are so many families that cannot get easy access because of the price. Reading books should not be reserved as a privilege and should be affordable and available to everyone."

Armed with this knowledge, Bailey took matters into her own hands by initiating Rebooked Hong Kong.

Juggling school and other extracurricular activities were already hard enough, yet Bailey was able to launch Rebooked in 2019. She created the website without any prior knowledge of building sites. "I just winged it on a free template. It was all trial-and-error and a lot of googling." Bailey laughs, remembering it all.

"It was very hard getting ReBooked off the ground. It took time to get the word out and find NGOs willing to support us. The business was very hands-on. Aside from sourcing pre-loved books from families, we had to go around Hong Kong and collect them from their doorstep.

We meticulously catalogued each one of them into our system and mounted all our titles on the website."

In between processing orders, arranging deliveries, and interacting with the customers, Bailey also did the marketing activities for the platform together with the support of other young students from Hong Kong.

"ReBooked is student-run. I am thrilled to be with like-minded kids who want to make a difference in the city. While the pandemic was very challenging, we were able to make it work because of a strong team. I had also got so much support from my parents. Even if they were also busy with work, they always had time to help me out."

In April 2021, Bailey opened her brick and mortar bookstore. "I thought ReBooked was going to be a small project. I never imagined it would actually have a space of its own in Sheung Wan!"

ReBooked at 1/F, 9 Mee Lun Street, Central, Hong Kong

Being a student of Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong and managing a full-scale business isn't a walk in the park. Yet Bailey has managed her time very well. If she isn't in boarding school, she spends time with her family or at the store every weekend attending events, emailing and interacting with customers, doing outreach with NGOs, or speaking to beneficiaries.

Book reading event in ReBooked

"Sometimes I think I do not have the time, but it's all in the mind. I've learned to manage my time and be very intentional with everything I do. Daily, I highlight what needs to be prioritised and work on that. Also, it's a lot of fun working at ReBooked, and I love doing what I do. On days when I feel tired, I continue to push forward because I know the work I do will make a positive difference."

Bailey is currently expanding the bookstore to Brazil and Turkey and is building a mobile library in the Philippines.

Bailey Cherry and fellow winners of the 2022 global RISE Program during a live interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America”

What drives Bailey are her mentors. "I look up to Michelle Lai of Kids for Kids, who guided me and gave me insights on scaling ReBooked. My conversation with Sonalie Figueras, founder of Green Queen, a media platform for sustainability and eco-friendly initiatives, had a huge impact on me."

Mom Pam Cherry continues to be her most significant mentor and inspiration. "When I grow up, I want to be like my Mom. She works very hard, and she always does everything to the best of her abilities. Her kindness translates into everything she does, whether at work or at home. I want to be an entrepreneur who makes an impact on the community."

Since she started ReBooked, Bailey has become more passionate and more immersed in sustainability.

"I want to continue pursuing more of my ideas and making children's books more accessible without being so expensive," says the teen social entrepreneur who found her passion early in life unlike most girls her age.

Do you remember what you were doing at thirteen?

Tisha | ws

Images courtesy of Bailey Cherry  | www.rebooked-hk.com