The DreamEscape Library was born a little over a year ago, when the KHSA student government advisers challenged teens to come up with a service project that would positively change their community. The kids mulled over several options, then zeroed in on one that felt perfect.

“We all grew up without a library,” said Akeem Mack, now a KHSA senior. “That had an effect on a lot of kids. Teachers assigned a book, and people wouldn’t read it, because people didn’t like to read.”

The library got started with a $1,000 seed grant from the Philly Service Award, which works with the nonprofit Herb It Forward Foundation and Drexel University to encourage students to improve Philadelphia. There was no money for staff or space, but the students vowed to be the librarians themselves and to start, they pushed a single cart of books around.

“There’s a lot of areas in Philly where they give out free books,” said Angie Medina, a senior. “We used any type of resources that came into our hands.”

The first few volumes came from teachers’ classroom collections. The students gathered more slowly but surely — general fiction, graphic novels, fantasy, romance. Every book had to be stamped by hand, entered into the electronic catalog, and reinforced with tape.

“We started off with our small little genres that we recommended, then we involved a catalog and a website,” said Christian Toro, a sophomore.