Wash And Learn: Laundromats And Libraries Are Fighting 'Book Deserts' via Newsy

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Wash And Learn: Laundromats And Libraries Are Fighting 'Book Deserts'

Newsy: 1.25.2019 by Jamal Andress

In the Bronx, Detroit, Chicago and other cities, libraries are partnering with laundromats to provide books to low-income and low-literacy areas.

Laundry is a necessary chore — one that’s especially boring for kids who tag along to a laundromat every week. But now, a bi-weekly pop-up reading program from the Chicago Public Library is putting an educational spin on family trips to the laundromat. So, why combine books and laundromats? Well, turns out, there are several reasons. 

"We really were thinking, where can we meet the community where they're at? Like, where's the need?" Becca Ruidl from the Chicago Public Library said. 

"For one, people are stuck there. And they're stuck there for a while. Another aspect is that people often return to the same laundromat every week. So it's a really unique way of reaching families over the long term in a sustained way," said Adam Echelman, Executive Director of Libraries Without Borders. 

"Oftentimes, these laundromat locations are also sort of in a book desert type area and if you look at it, statistically, the families that are patronizing the laundromats there's a very low ownership rate for books, particularly kids books," Brian Wallace from the Laundry Cares Foundation said.

“Book deserts” are often in low-income areas, where access to books is limited and literacy rates are below average.  WATCH 03:04