Open Books & Lawndale Pop-Up Spot Team Up to Launch Pay What You Want Bookstore
For immediate contact:
Chelsea Ridley
Project Director, North Lawndale Reads
cridley@open-books.org
CHICAGO – Open Books' initiative, North Lawndale Reads, has partnered with the Lawndale Pop-Up Spot, a community museum in a shipping container, to turn the museum into a pay what you want bookstore for the month of April. The public is welcomed into the museum/bookstore on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays to browse, shop, and relax either inside or on the plaza with a good book. There are books for people of all ages, and the public is welcomed to take them home for any price they'd like, even for free.
2023 marks the third year of this collaboration. This year, both parties are excited to partner with Semicolon Bookstore, which will be curating one of the book cases.
North Lawndale Reads is a multi-year, multi-strategy campaign designed to amplify the importance of literacy in North Lawndale and give the community’s families, parents, and children the resources critical for early reading. Recognizing that book access is a huge part of literacy, Open Books is excited to partner with the Lawndale Pop-Up Spot (1408 S. CENTRAL PARK AVE.) to bring this store to the neighborhood.
The Lawndale Pop-Up Spot is a community museum featuring exhibits by and for the North Lawndale community. This innovative museum is located in a shipping container which can be transformed into any number of spaces, including a bookstore. The museum is located in Love Blooms Here Plaza at the southwest corner of Central Park Ave. & Douglas Blvd.
About Open Books
Open Books is a nonprofit that provides literacy experiences for tens of thousands of readers each year through inspiring literacy programs and the creative capitalization of books. Through our literacy programs, we transform students’ reading and writing skills through experienced educators who deliver innovative instruction and passionate volunteers. Through our book grants, we provide readers of all ages with engaging, appropriate, and high-quality books. Each week, we deliver thousands of books to schools and nonprofits across Chicagoland.
About North Lawndale Reads
In 2021, Open Books launched North Lawndale Reads (NL Reads), a multi-year, multi-strategy campaign designed to amplify in North Lawndale the importance of literacy and give the community’s families, parents, and children the resources critical for early reading, from pre-natal experiences to preschool, from Kindergarten through a child’s first elementary years in school.
Open Books and its North Lawndale Reads partners seek to provide books, tips, tools, and messages to families that fill knowledge gaps about the importance of early literacy and equip caregivers with knowledge and resources to integrate early literacy and learning into the routines of their busy, everyday lives. As a result of the NL READS Campaign, Open Books and its partners seek to contribute to the two overarching goals of increasing the number of prenatal-to-5 children in North Lawndale who are school-ready when they enter Kindergarten and the number of 3rd grade students in North Lawndale who meet or exceed 3rd grade reading benchmarks. Within the North Lawndale community, educators, researchers, and service providers commonly cite these goals as key milestones toward a child’s school, career, and life success.
Neighborhood youth enjoy books from 2021 Lawndale Pop-Up Spot & Open Books “Pay What You Want” Bookstore