The future of literacy is meeting people where they are

Last weekend, amid the music, food, art, style, and energy of the Roots Picnic, something just as powerful was happening: People were picking up books.

Attendees received free children’s books. Families learned about library resources. Festivalgoers signed literacy advocacy postcards. People registered for library cards. They saw books placed beside barber chairs and braiding stations. Conversations about reading and opportunity happened not in a classroom or lecture hall, but in the middle of one of Philadelphia’s most beloved cultural gatherings.

That was the idea behind Sound It Out!, a weekend-long literacy activation led by the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation, with partners including the Pennsylvania Literacy Coalition, PLUS1, Barbershop Books, the African American Children’s Book Project, Read by 4th (a department of the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation), and Emerson Collective.

But the larger point was not the event itself. The point was what it made visible: Literacy belongs everywhere culture lives.

For too long, we have treated reading as something that happens in designated places — schools, libraries, tutoring programs, homework tables. Those places matter deeply. But if we want reading to feel joyful and connected to our lives, we have to bring books and literacy into the places where people already gather.

That is especially urgent now. In Philadelphia, approximately 22% of adults lack basic literacy skills, and more than 60% of Philadelphia fourth graders are not reading at grade level (far worse than national averages).

That is something that should concern all of us, from parents to educators to policymakers. Reading is not just another academic benchmark. Reading is power. It’s how people create opportunity and confidence, and find their place in the world. Research consistently shows that stronger literacy leads to higher employment and earnings, and lower poverty and crime rates, resulting in financial comfort for individuals, safer neighborhoods, and a stronger workforce.

Too often, however, literacy is discussed only in terms of crisis and failure, instead of joy and opportunity. Children need to experience reading as fun and a way to better understand themselves and the world around them. They need books that reflect their lives and expand their worlds. They need to see reading not as a boring task, but as something that gives them agency — in a world where many don’t have it.

That means literacy efforts have to move beyond traditional walls.

At the Roots Picnic, we created a celebration of books at a music festival. We promoted library card sign-ups and offered an advocacy opportunity in an unexpected place. This is a model worth replicating. In other parts of our city, this could look like reading corners in barbershops, story time at recreation centers, book giveaways at block parties, literacy resources in health clinics, or library staff connecting with families at neighborhood and cultural events.

Literacy is also about culture. Books are sometimes considered separate from music, art, sports, fashion, food, and other cultural touchstones. But stories are at the center of all of those things. Culture helps people understand who they are, where they come from, what they want out of life. Reading is part of that. It is how people document their lives, ask questions, challenge systems, build movements, and pass knowledge forward.

That is why it matters for books to show up in unexpected places. A child who receives a book at a festival may start to associate reading with a day that feels exciting and welcoming. A parent who signs up for a library card at a fun event may be reminded that the library is a resource that belongs to them. A young person who sees stories connected to music and their personal interests may begin to understand reading as something bigger than a school assignment.

This work is not a substitute for strong schools, evidence-based reading instruction, well-funded libraries, or serious public policy. We need all of those. But we also need a broader public commitment to making reading visible, accessible, and valued in everyday life.

Last weekend offered one version of what that can look like. The lesson is simple: If we want a city of readers, we have to build a city where books and stories meet people where they are.

Monique Moore Pryor is the president of the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation.