B IS FOR BOOKS BOOKSTORE IN HOMESTEAD OFFERS FREE BOOKS TO CHILDREN | PHOTOS COURTESY READING READY PITTSBURGH

“Every child should have access to a full bookshelf and time with grown-ups loving and reading to them all of the time,” says Mary Denison, executive director of Reading Ready Pittsburgh. “It’s not easy, so I’m trying to fill the void for the Pittsburgh area, at least in the Mon Valley.”

B is for Books free children’s bookstore opened Feb. 1 at 222 E. Eighth Ave. in Homestead, as a part of nonprofit Reading Ready Pittsburgh’s support for early literacy in the community. It’s hosting an open house from noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 17, when it will be adding regular Saturday hours to its schedule.

“The rules are, every child can come in and leave with up to three books,” Denison says.

Books for children of all ages and a lively, cozy nook fill the store with the help of Allegheny County’s Department of Children Initiatives. The books are 100% donated, new and used, from communities all over Allegheny County. 

The idea is to support the children in the community at an early age “so that they’re not starting with a deficit,” Denison says. The bookstore even caught the attention of acclaimed children’s and young adult author Lois Lowry, who filled out a donation form through the website. She splits her time between living in Maine and Naples, Florida.

With so many other national outreach programs like Raising a Reader, Ready4K and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (which has partnered with Reading Ready to provide books to children mostly in the Mon Valley), it was time for a local place where the community could come to them, Denison says. At Saturday’s open house, every visiting child will get a bag with a new book about bookstores and two books of their choice.

The other part of the mission is to emphasize and increase engagement around books. “Building vocabulary, back and forth conversations … there’s so many things you can get from reading,” Denison says.

READING NOOK AT B IS FOR BOOKS.

The store even offers a shelf of helpful books for moms, dads and grandparents. “We do live in a world where both parents are working now … out of necessity in order to provide for the family that they have,” says outreach coordinator Mark Sepe. 

That’s why Reading Ready Pittsburgh offers so many opportunities for families to build their at-home library, where there’s no worry about affording or returning the books.

Among other opportunities, you might find Reading Ready Pittsburgh’s colorful, free little libraries around the Mon Valley, built by volunteer Eagle Scouts and sometimes added to community gardens and centers. 

Volunteers regularly fill and maintain the 13 Little Giveaway Libraries without expecting the communities to trade. 

“Being a part of that fabric of social service organizations and giving people what they need to be successful regardless of their income, that’s direly important,” Sepe says.