11-Year-Old Girl Launches 'Black Girl' Book Drive After Realizing Lack of Diversity In Literature

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A sixth-grade bookworm from New Jersey is changing the world, one story at a time.

For 11-year-old Marley Dias, a good book opens the world.

"You always have words, you're able to express your emotions when you read," Dias told CBS2's Vanita Nair.

But, there are some books she's assigned in school that she's grown tired of.

"The books were mainly just about white boys and dogs," Dias said.

Dias wanted books she could relate to, with characters like her.

"I just went to my mom and she told me, 'Well what are you going to do about it?' And that's kind of how the book drive started," the student said.

The idea was simple, but ambitious: to collect 1,000 books about black girls. Dias started posting pictures of herself holding "black girl" books on Instagram. She said she was "100 percent" nervous that wouldn't be able to actually find that many books.

Dias gained national recognition for her efforts, including media appearances on shows and websites. The books began arriving and stacking up.

Marley had collected close to 1,300 books by the time CBS2 visited her. She said her favorite is "Brown Girl Dreaming" by Jacquelyn Woodson.

Woodson won both the prestigious Newbery Award and a national book award.

"Seeing a story on the page about a black child, written by a black author, not only legitimizes your own existence in the world,  you're a part of something else, 'look I'm here in this book,'" Woodson said.

Dias said 1,000 of the books collected will go to a primary school in rural Jamaica, where her mother is from. Many of the children who will receive the books have limited access to literature.