Pastor puts books for kids in barbershops

When you go to the barbershop, you might expect to get a fade, a buzz, or even a shave. But how about an education? That’s what pastor CT Kirk hopes to accomplish with his Books in Barbershops program, which provides barbershops and salons with free books so kids will always have something to read.

Kirk told FOX 46, “The more they are able to read, the more exposure they have to books, the better they are. Being able to put books in barbershops to encourage reading.”

Kirk and his wife Monique plan to start by putting books into 10 barber shops in South Carolina. Monique says reading in salons is an experience she had growing up. “So many times I can remember as a child going to the beauty shop from my mom getting her hair done and I took books because I liked to read.”

Local barbershop owner Solomon Knighton loves the idea, too. “Reading is fun to the mental. It’s fundamental,” said Knighton. “That’s how I was taught; reading is fun to the mental, so I’m like, make you mind fun.”

It’s an excellent remind about the power of reading -- and the power of giving back to our communities.