Georgia Magazine - October 2023 - 34

Hometown HEROES
By Amber Lanier Nagle
Bookmobile founders Valerie
Gilreath, left, and Kim Dennis
Valerie Gilreath and Kim Dennis:
getting books to children who need them most
K
im Dennis watched a young mother and her 3-year-old
son approach the Bookmobile in the parking lot of Faith
Methodist Church in Cartersville. She recognized them
from her visit the previous week and remembered that she had
given the boy a free board book, " Elbow Grease " by John Cena.
" Thank you so much, " the mom said. " My son hasn't been
very interested in reading or being read to until he got his hands
on that book. He loved it so much, and now he's so excited about
reading! We've gone to the library and checked out others in the
series. "
For Bookmobile founders Kim Dennis and Valerie Gilreath,
both from Cartersville, these comments are " moving and
validating. "
" Every time I see a kid experience the joy of reading, I am
filled with hope, " Gilreath says. " I know that literacy can change
lives. That's why the Bookmobile exists. "
In 2016, Gilreath performed a needs assessment of south
Bartow County for the Georgia Department of Public Health.
" It was one of the most impoverished regions in Bartow
County in the 1980s, and despite the county pouring money into
the area, not much had changed, " she says. " I kept asking myself,
'What could break the cycle of generational poverty there,
beyond addressing basic needs?' And the answer was books. "
Gilreath and Dennis say that they believe strong readers
become strong learners, and strong learners ultimately have
more options and earning potential. The two women also
understand that many low-income families don't have reliable
34 Georgia Magazine October 2023
transportation to drive to a library.
" I said to Kim, 'What if we take the books to them? Like a
traveling library?' And we decided to do it, " Gilreath says. " The
Cartersville-Bartow Community Foundation and United Way
awarded us start-up grants to help us purchase a used U.S.
Postal Service box truck and outfit it with shelves. "
The women filled their Bookmobile with used books and
took it on the road, to the delight of thousands of children.
They've since upgraded to a larger truck and shifted their model
from lending books to giving them away.
" We gave away 10,000 books in 2020 and every year since
then, " Gilreath says.
Gilreath and Dennis now operate the Bookmobile,
coordinate 40 free community library boxes and oversee and
administer Dolly Parton's Imagination Library (a book giveaway
program) in Bartow County.
" Our goals are that every child in Bartow is kindergartenready
when they begin school and that all children read
proficiently by the end of the third grade, and that can only be
achieved by access to books, " Gilreath says. " If you can read, you
can do anything. I think we're on the right path. "
Amber Lanier Nagle is a freelance writer living in
Adairsville.
To learn more or help the Bookmobile, visit readingtogoplaces.org
or call (470) 315-0339.
AMBER LANIER NAGLE
http://www.readingtogoplaces.org
Georgia Magazine - October 2023

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