High school teacher uses commute to share books with kids

Random Acts of Literacy was started by a teacher who, well, committed a random act of literacy. Now he’s got people talking and sharing books.

While commuting to his job at the University City Promise Academy, Harvey Scribner shared a train with a mother trying to distract her young son during the ride, as Scribner explains for his guest post on the Notebook. He shared a book with the family — an old favorite of his own kids — and the mother later told him how much her son loves the book.

 

Thus began the program that encourages people to carry children’s books with them to share with families. The idea is that the book is a better commuting distraction for a kid than a video game or snack.

How do parents react when a stranger on the train hands their kid a book? Pretty well, actually. Scribner says no one has yet turned down his offer.