Barbershop Books® Inspires Kids To Read For Fun!

Award-winning literacy programs that celebrate, amplify, and affirm the interests of Black boys

Black boy reading a book at the barbershop

Barbershop Books Awarded NewSchools $200K Learning Solutions Grant

Child-centered, Strengths-based, and Research Informed

Fueling Impactful Family and Community Engagement

Communities already have the raw materials needed to inspire children to read. The Barbershop Books program is simply put – a catalyst. We help mission-aligned organizations successfully implement early literacy programming in neighborhood barbershops. Our trauma-informed barber training, curated content, and branded materials increase access to male reading role models and reduce reading trauma.

Program Impacts (participating barbershops)

  • Increases out-of-school time reading among Black boys
  • Black boys are more likely to be observed reading independently
  • Black boys are more likely to identify as readers

Barbershop Books In the News

Actor Jeffrey Wright honors Barbershop Books Founder as top 10 CNN Hero
Watch Barbershop Books segment on the Today Show
Watch TED Talk about Barbershop Books

Get Involved

Browse our E-Library

Features 70+ fun storytime videos and a diverse collection of independently published ebooks.

Recommend a barbershop

Want to help bring fun books to a local barbershop? Connect us with an interested shop.

What We’ve Heard

“I learned why my son loves Captain Underpants – it’s as silly as he can be – and that the genre is OK for beginning readers. Comics get a bad rep.”

— Ersula R., North Carolina

“He was able to participate in a program with peers and an instructor that reflected him. He really enjoyed participating in the program. He told me after today’s class that he wished it would have continued until school started back up.”

— Sharon M., Rhode Island

“His taste stayed fairly consistent, only he gained more vocabulary describing it. He can now articulate the genre and category.”

— April C., New York City

Helping Black Boys Identify As Readers

We seek out and integrate the interests, knowledge, and lived experiences of Black boys and other vulnerable children. Their voices and recommendations inform our book curation and programming.

The Barbershop Books E-Library features fun storytime videos and high-quality, independently published e-books from diverse authors.

Visit E-Library

Barbershop Books’ first-of-its-kind reading identity development platform Reading So Lit® is a strengths-based reading intervention for grades PK-5. This web-based tool leverages multimedia, social-emotional learning, and artificial intelligence to support holistic reading personalization and student-driven decision making.

Reading So Lit is the winner of Tools Competition’s 2023 Catalyst Award and is a New Schools Venture Fund 2024 Learning Solutions grantee.

Become A School Partner

The Barbershop Books® program is an award-winning family and community engagement model that helps mission-aligned organizations, such as libraries, school districts, city governments, and local nonprofits, implement early literacy programming in neighborhood barbershops – a culturally meaningful space for Black boys.

This reading identity development program uses boy-approved books to create child-friendly reading spaces in barbershops. Participating barbershops receive early literacy training and branded materials, increasing access to male reading role models and out-of-school time reading opportunities.

Become a Program Partner