• Watch a Video about the Beauty of the Literary Barbershop

    In Ypsilanti, Michigan, one barbershop gives a discount to kids who read

    Here’s your periodic reminder that the world isn’t all bad all the time. At the Fuller Cut barbershop in Ypsilanti, Michigan, kids get a $2 discount—which I’m willing to bet goes right into their candy fund—if they read a book to their barber while he works. Their barber is no passive listener though—he’ll help out with words the kids don’t know, and even quiz them on their reading comprehension.

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    Appropriately, the barbershop library features a big collection of books that feature strong African American figures, whether real or fictional. As Ryan Griffin, the barber who instituted the program at Fuller Cut, explained, “the importance of having the selection that we have, is because we want these kids to see themselves as, ‘I can be a doctor, and there’s a doctor that looks like me.'”

    Also, not for nothing on this Monday morning? These kids are adorable, and this video will make you smile. Watch it below.

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    Emily Temple
    Emily Temple
    Emily Temple is the managing editor at Lit Hub. Her first novel, The Lightness, was published by William Morrow/HarperCollins in June 2020. You can buy it here.
    https://www.emilytemple.net/





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