Bring Literacy to Every Neighborhood

According to The National Literacy Institute, Approximately 40% of students across the nation cannot read at a basic level. Almost 70% of low-income fourth grade students cannot read at a basic level. 49% of 4th graders eligible for free and reduced-price meals finished below “Basic” on the National Assessment of Educational Reading Progress test. 40% of Missouri's fourth graders tested in reading were below a basic level of skill in 2022. A 2022 report from the NAEP shows white students scoring 34 points higher in reading than Black students. The connection between the financial, mental, and emotional traumas of students from low income households, the current standing levels of education in the St. Louis minority community and the value placed on their individualized educations have become a disparity that we hope to make a small dent in.

Our mission is to switch up the narrative, to spark a passion and a drive in young students, and promote the importance of literacy in our communities. With our Traveling Library and Donut Truck, we have high hopes of becoming bigger than the ice cream man in July. Our truck is driven by your neighbor, it is driven by your friend, it is driven by our team that is dedicated to their belief that education and literacy are crucial and should be made accessible to everyone. Our goal is to create a fun and approachable traveling mobile library, where kids and adults alike can enjoy a quick stop and expect a friendly conversation with a trusted friend, pick up/drop off their latest read, have a fresh and delicious sweet treat, and get in touch with other literacy tools. We want to combine excitement, education and literacy and spark it with real human connection, community, and routine dedication.

In the most laid-back way, our aggressive approach to bringing a freshness and a style to the epidemic is bringing literacy directly to neighborhoods that are considered “Book Deserts” with our “Book Desserts”. No library in the area; No problem. We will come to you. We want to make education accessible to everyone, and promote some excitement through consistency in the community. Once we are rolling we intend to have a volunteer in a truck that will make their way there the same day, the same time, every week, with something new to offer.

In the truck, our library will be free. Our “students” will be allowed to check out a free book every time we come, and exchange/return anything they loved or hated, creating a marry-go-round of pre-loved books and a conversation about reading.

Every child in America deserves the opportunity to be educated. It is our diligent attention to our children’s education, engagement, and awareness of themselves and the world that will help us to create a better everything for, and with them. With your support, we can build our library, and start to build a dream that all of us can agree on: something sweeter. It takes a village to empower our community, and statistics show children being literate affects all of us.

We’re asking for your financial support in our initial decoration and build out of our mobile library/donut truck. The truck will be driven around to inner city communities in St. Louis, passing out free books and donuts to anyone who will accept them, with regular routines and “wild card” drive-by’s like you’ve never seen before. Anything and everything helps, from pennies to picture books, and our team is now accepting donations to improve our community with little steps in big ways.. All money donated will go towards the truck, gas, maintenance, repairs, and more books and resources for our “Street Students of STL”.