We inspire kids to identify as readers

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.

Our 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.

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