Buckets for Teachers

08/30/2026

Teacher Derek Brown has been showing his fifth graders "On the Road...

08/27/2026

08/27/2026

08/23/2026

The deal is simple. Sit in the chair, pick a book, read it out loud, and the haircut is free.

No catch. No limit. Every single time.

Courtney Holmes, a barber in Dubuque, Iowa, started the idea as part of a back-to-school event. Kids would come in, grab a book from a small collection in the shop, and read to him while he cut their hair. He figured it would be a one-off thing.

It wasn't.

The response was so big that other barbers picked it up. Jon Escueta at City Cuts in Kutztown, Pennsylvania launched a programme called Books by Kids, where young customers get $3 just for reading out loud during their appointment. Antonio Brown in St. Petersburg, Florida turned it into a full Barbershop Book Club.

At least ten shops around the country now run some version of the same idea.

The logic behind it is deceptively smart. A barbershop chair is a low-pressure setting. The barber isn't a teacher. There's no grade. No one's watching except the person cutting your hair. For kids who struggle with reading confidence, it's the safest possible audience.

"Our goal is for kids to boost their confidence in front of others without fear of being judged," Escueta said.

Some of these kids won't read out loud in class. They won't do it at home. But put them in a barber's chair with a fresh cape on and a pair of clippers buzzing, and something clicks.

A free haircut for a book read out loud. It costs the barber 20 minutes. It gives the kid something that lasts a lot longer 💛

08/22/2026

08/16/2026

sad.

When the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan five years ago, thousands of Afghans who helped U.S. troops were brought here to rebuild their lives. But now, some fear the U.S. may want to send them back.

08/16/2026

Sweden dropped books for screens in 2009 and paid 104 million to undo it.

That is what the change cost: 685 million kronor in 2023, then 500 million more each year after.

What changed their mind was a reading study. Swedish literacy scores had dropped, and printed books and handwriting went back on the desks.

Sources: Danish Ministry of Children and Education, Karolinska Institute