Pictured above: Lorielle Hollaway, owner of Cultured Books, shares multicultural stories with children in St. Petersburg.
Courtesy of Nina Grace of Grace Studio
By Decker Lavely
Inside the Well for Life in south St. Petersburg, children can flip a page to an exploration of culture and self-love.
Stories centered on Cuban poet José Martí, the historic Congo Square in New Orleans and a grandfather teaching tai chi sit among others on the lobby shelves of Cultured Books, a pop-up children’s bookstore at 833 22nd St. S.
The owner, Lorielle Hollaway, is dedicated to empowering children by highlighting culturally inclusive literature. Cultured Books provides a space in which children of color see themselves reflected through text and other art forms.
Hollaway, 29, founded Cultured Books after taking an “eye-opening” anthropology course at Hillsborough Community College. After conducting field research and studies focused on activism, she wanted to leave her mark in the community.
Since Hollaway grew up an avid reader, she decided her part would be teaching children self-love through inspiring representations of diverse cultures in literature.
“Spreading self-love is so important because, in our society, it’s almost shameful to love yourself,” Hollaway said. “It’s important for kids to know that it’s okay to love themselves, whoever and however they are, or whatever situation they’re in.”
Hollaway sold her first book in 2017 at the Soul on the Deuces Festival. A year later, she was invited to bring her business to the Well for Life, a collaboration of community organizations aiming to provide a “healing space” at 833 22nd St. S.
Recently, Cultured Books collaborated with the WORD! (Women Organizing Real Discussions) Initiative and Keep St. Pete Lit, a nonprofit working to grow St. Petersburg’s literary community, to establish a free book exchange.
WORD! Book Boxes are donated newspaper vending machines repurposed as homes to multicultural books for children and youth in south St. Petersburg. They were created in an effort to improve literacy rates and spread a love for reading within children in south St. Petersburg.
The project also aims to make books with positive portrayals of people of color accessible while encouraging high self-esteem.
To guarantee accessibility, WORD! Book Boxes allow readers to take books without having to donate others in exchange. The literature is set to be restocked frequently and specially selected for elementary and middle school students.
Hollaway’s role is to curate each book box to ensure the texts are culturally relevant and accurate.
“Having these books curated by Lorielle was a great way to make sure these children see themselves,” said Leigh Davis, co-founder of the WORD! Initiative.
On March 2, in celebration of National Read Across America Day, the four boxes, painted by local artist ZuluPainter, will officially join the community.
The boxes will be placed at Childs Park Recreation Center, Jordan Park Apartments, Thomas Jackson Recreation Center and the Community Health Centers of Pinellas at Johnnie Ruth Clarke.
“If we can just show (children of color) some books about them that are positive, then maybe that will help with reading success and also just an interest in reading,” Hollaway said.
As further promotion of cultural exploration, Cultured Books also presents an International Children’s Film Series at the historic Royal Theatre. Every second Saturday, a global film is shown and paired with a book reading and a meal related to the story as a continuation of the bookstore’s goal to teach all children the value of diversity.
Cultured Books is open every Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. Those interested in making a monetary or literary donation to the WORD! Book Boxes can visit Cultured Books or email Lorielle Hollaway at stpetereads@culturedbooks.com.
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