Barbershop Books^® Inspires Kids To Read For Fun!

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.

Over the past 3 years, Barbershop Books developed and piloted groundbreaking reading identity exploration and assessment materials through our Reading So Lit™ program. Our Reading So Lit™ digital platform for grades preK-5 won the Learning Engineering Tools Competition’s 2023 Catalyst Award for the transforming assessment track.

This innovative reading tool helps children better understand and express their reading preferences. It also generates actionable, strengths-based reading data that equips educators to make student-driven decisions about content, reading instruction, and learning environments.

Barbershop Books^® partners with libraries, school districts, city governments, and other organizations to support impactful family and community engagement and to expand reading opportunities for Black boys and other vulnerable children.

In participating barbershops, boys are more likely to be observed reading than doing any other activity including using a mobile device and are more likely to identify as readers than boys in shops that don’t participate in the Barbershop Books^® program.