In Petal, Miss., the city’s Cosmopolitan Club and its Excel by 5 group – a community-based certification designed to improve children’s overall well-being by age 5 – are providing one more way for children to get their hands on books… at the laundromat.
This local project, known as “Rinse & Read,” provides books for children in both English and Spanish at two laundry businesses in Petal – Soap ’n Suds and Discount Speed Wash. Kids are able to choose any book off of the bookshelves at the stores.
Penny Barr, a Petal Excel by 5 chairperson and a Cosmopolitan Club member, said the idea started in a Cosmopolitan Club meeting when members were discussing ways to improve children’s literacy.
“We hope it brings another opportunity for families to share books together, and for kids to see that books are not just at school,” Barr explained. “They are everywhere. They can even be at the laundromat. It helps to increase their vocabulary, to learn new concepts and to emphasize the importance of early literacy.”
