United Way of Central Georgia installs book nooks at local laundromat

The United Way of Central Georgia (UWCG) is providing children's books somewhere you might not expect—a laundromat.

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The United Way of Central Georgia (UWCG) is providing children’s books somewhere you might not expect—a laundromat.

The goal of the outreach program is to improve literacy by making age appropriate reading material available in places where children might go with their parents. UWCG, along with volunteers from Zeta Amicae, installed its first book nook at the Eisenhower Laundromat in Macon on Tuesday.

Dr. Sundra Woodford, Community Schools United Director at UWCG, explained what she hopes the program will accomplish.

“We want these kids to really learn early, to appreciate the value of books and where books can take you in your imagination,” she said. “So we’re excited about this, and we hope that our community will get behind this, and we encourage children to read.”

President and CEO of UWCG, George McCanless, explained that reading on a third grade level is the most significant indicator of a student’s success of graduating high school.

“All the research has shown that in families that are struggling financially, there may be only one book for every 300 families,” he said. “They just can’t afford to have books in the house, so going into some of our neighborhoods or areas where we know that children that may not have books in their house; we can bring those books to them.”

The program is part of the Macon-Bibb Mayor’s Literacy Alliance to reduce illiteracy in the community. Children are encouraged to read wherever book nooks can be found, and are welcome to take books home to keep or to share.

If you’d like to donate books for the book nook, you can contact Dr. Sundra Woodford through the United Way Website.