Bringing Literacy To Laundromats With Libraries Without Borders

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Bringing Literacy To Laundromats With Libraries Without Borders

Herald Tribune: 1.27.2019 by Kim Doleatto

What do libraries and laundromats have in common?

Like butter and potatoes, not much, but mashed together they’re brilliant.

Libraries Without Borders’ Wash and Learn Initiative does the mashing by bringing colorful spaces with story times, toys and books to laundromats, turning lengthy wait times into opportunities for early learning.

In the time between washing, drying and folding, the Laundry and Literacy spaces invite parents to sing, talk and read with their children, all activities proven to benefit brain growth, vocabulary, comprehension and even behavior.

While the importance of parent engagement is documented, the delivery of such early education programming sometimes misses the mark.

“We see the importance of meeting people where they’re at,” said Adam Echelman, executive director of Libraries Without Borders, a nonprofit focused on breaking barriers between underserved communities and access to information.

“Why create a whole program in a space people don’t recognize and may be inaccessible, when you already have a laundromat where families are waiting,” Echelman said.

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That’s why there’s a Wash and Learn Initiative in Minnesota delivered in Hmong, a Southeast Asian language commonly spoken in that community.

Active in about 30 laundromats in about 10 states across the country, the program is as hyper-local as the laundromat itself.

It relies on local public libraries and librarians to learn about whom they’re not serving and which community needs more support.  READ MORE >>