Endeavor flight attendant Genevieve Casagrande had a vision for the LGA crew room for some time, and this year she finally brought it to life: a crew room library.

“I think reading and travelling have a lot in common,” said Genevieve. “They’re both about history and knowledge and exploring the world from different perspectives. It’s an easy marriage – reading can take you different places.”

In March 2021, Genevieve learned that a friend’s mom, a retired teacher, was moving out of her house and giving away an extensive book collection. Genevieve knew these would be a great starter collection for her LGA
‘Skybrary.’

“Last year was a hard year for everyone, and I think it was especially difficult for New York because we went from being a very bustling hub, to being very quiet. I didn’t realize how much I missed going to the crew room and interacting with my crew, until I hadn’t done it for a year,” Genevieve said.

“This new Skybrary is like a little love letter to my Inflight crew saying, here is something nice that I can put together and hopefully make people’s day better.”

After getting approval from her base leadership, Genevieve’s project was underway. She started with three boxes of books, making sure to get a variety of genres to appeal to everyone.

Genevieve traveled to LGA on her day off, carrying the books through security, and setting up the Skybrary for crew members to enjoy.

From the start, the Skybrary has been well-received, and Genevieve hopes it encourages crew members to exercise their minds through books.

“It’s really important for flight crew members to take care of themselves; while physical exercise is important, mental exercise is also really important,” said Genevieve.

“It’s very easy to binge-watch Netflix … It would’ve been really easy to stare at a screen, but personally, I feel mentally better if I take some time to read – it just makes my brain feel better.”

Crew members are encouraged to stop by the LGA Skybrary, explore the collection, and borrow any books that fit their interest.

“There won’t be any over-due library book fines,” Genevieve laughed. “I thought about a check-out system, but I didn’t want to stress anyone out. If they end up taking it and keeping it, good for them.”