Rotary Club of Jamestown literacy committee members David Troxell and Patricia Graves are shown near the bookshelf at the Third Street laundromat, holding books donated as part of the Laundromat Literacy Project. Submitted photo

Laundromat Literacy, a pilot project begun by the Rotary Club of Jamestown, four years ago, is located in three different city laundromats.

To date, more than 1,800 books have been gifted to people who are customers at the local laundromats and who are looking for something better to do than scrolling their phones or watching their laundry.

The Jamestown club has had a hand in many local projects over the years including assisting with programs at Boys and Girls Club, highway cleanup along I-86, installation of the Welcome to Jamestown City sign on North Main Street, donations to the homeless women’s shelter, and working with the National Comedy Center, just to name a few.

Four years ago, the Rotary Club of Jamestown’s literacy committee came up with an idea for taking advantage of time spent in a laundromat as an opportunity to put forward books to the general public. Using local contacts, the club got permission from three city laundromats to begin a pilot program. The idea was simple: build a bookshelf, get permission from the owner to locate the bookshelf in an attractive space, and set up a system of volunteers to service the bookshelves during the week, replacing the books that go out with new books. Each book has a label on it letting readers know they are free to take the book home with them and that it is a gift from the Rotary Club of Jamestown.

“Rotary Club is an international organization of more than 31,000 clubs around the world, providing various volunteer-driven services for more than 100 years, and one of the club’s highest global priorities is education and literacy,” said David Troxell, Rotary Club of Jamestown literacy committee member. “A main focus of the Laundromat Literacy Project is to involve as many children reading with parents as possible. With many parents spending time at the laundromat and bringing children along, this gives them the opportunity to read while waiting for their clothes to wash and dry.”

The participating laundromats are located near the Southside Plaza, Northside Love School, and centrally located downtown across from the Northwest Arena.

“Never underestimate the power of reading, writing and imagination that comes from literacy,” Troxell said.

For more information about the Rotary Club of Jamestown and joining members with their work, visit JamestownRotary.org.