How exactly are you supporting literacy and practicing desegregation?

The literacy landscape in Cleveland has changed dramatically since our founding in 2018, and the current political situation will have even more, as yet unknown, effects.

We are, therefore, moving ahead with the things we know:

We have good books at a good price, and we get them into the hands of Readers. Often for free, always for cheap.

We give books away through LFLs, events like Trick or Treat, trunk-popping, and our Free Shelf. We send books to prisons. We partner with Comics at the Corner to emphasize pleasure reading and the power of reader choice. We host the FAFSA Festival to help families apply for funding for higher education.

We are supporting our sponsees as they do their work. We have already started our capacity-building services and we hope to eventually offer capacity-building grants as well.

We are hosting the convivial book-themed events for which we have become known. We help produce Story Club and the Horrorshow; we host Galentine’s Day and the Jolabokaflod. We host book clubs and writing groups and we take part in local literary events.

We are working to understand the things we do not know:

Our team of librarians, educators, academics and analysts is currently documenting the existing literacy services in Cleveland and their effects. Although we have hunches about what works best to teach kids to read, we want data before we make our decisions.

Our goal is to find worthy projects that need a little bit of help to make a big difference.

We are building a solid foundation for the future:

Cleveland’s literacy funding is very much being used, and we didn’t come to eat everyone else’s lunch: we came to make more lunch. We run a frugal operation with a lean budget. This practice, and the generosity of our donors, customers and friends has allowed us to begin building a reserve fund, which we hope will develop into an endowment. We are busily planning what to do with our resources, but also letting them grow, so we can use them wisely.

We are learning, growing and pushing the edges of our comfort zones daily, and we invite you to join us.