BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) \u2014 Alice, Ever After Books in Buffalo\u2019s Parkside neighborhood has launched a new initiative that redefines how young readers can take home a book.<\/p>\n
The program, Barter a Book, allows children to pick out a title from a curated red cart in the store, then \u201cpay\u201d using a non-monetary method listed on magnets displayed above the shelf. <\/p>\n
Options include reading a poem aloud, doing a quick dance, sweeping the floor or paying what they can afford.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to make a system that doesn\u2019t require an exchange of money,\u201d said Alex Nowicki, the bookshop manager. \u201cThere\u2019s more value in face-to-face engagement and community building than just financial exchange. And we wanted to remove any barriers. Anybody who wants a book should be able to get a book.\u201d<\/p>\n
WATCH:\u00a0‘It\u00a0promotes literacy’: Alice, Ever After Books lets kids barter for a book<\/p>\n
‘It promotes literacy’: Alice, Ever After Books lets kids barter for a book<\/p>\n
The idea was inspired by The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer, a book the Alice, Ever After team read together this year. The story explores the idea of a gift economy where relationships, generosity, and reciprocity matter more than price tags.<\/p>\n
Nowicki said the ultimate goal is to promote literacy by creating more access.<\/p>\n
\u201cAccess to literacy promotes literacy,\u201d she said. \u201cIf families or kids have access to something as simple as a book, it can help them develop in so many other ways, whether academically or just by walking in and connecting with someone in the store. That matters too.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) \u2014 Alice, Ever After Books in Buffalo\u2019s Parkside neighborhood has launched a new initiative that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1410,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[353,49,48,75],"class_list":{"0":"post-1409","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-books","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-entertainment"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1409\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}