1. Volunteer
Sign up here for the August 8 or August 15 volunteer events, help assemble furniture, paint, box and unbox books and more!
Sign Up to Volunteer
We're excited to announce the
Grand Opening of the Our Kids Read Baltimore Literacy Hub
-
A FREE bookstore
for children -
One-on-one
Reading Buddies
mentorship -
Thousands of books
distributed to local
children in need
Join us for our Grand Opening!
Saturday, September 5, 2026
11:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Baltimore, MD 21218
12,000+
Children will receive donations
of books (5 books each)
of books (5 books each)
60,000+
Books will be
distributed
distributed
3 Ways to Support Our Literacy Hub
2. Purchase an Item for the Hub from Our Registry
We need bookshelves, paint, flooring, crayons, a coffee maker and more! Browse the registry and help us get what we need for the grand opening!
View the Registry3. Donate
Donate to support this effort! We will use the gifts to purchase the remaining items from the registry.
Donate NowStore Hours
- Friday: 4 PM – 7 PM (EST)
- Saturday: 11 AM – 3 PM (EST)
- Sunday: 11 AM – 3 PM (EST)
Stop by at pick out 5 free books on the three days that we are open, either Friday, Saturday or Sunday.
Upcoming Events
Eastpoint Mall, 7860 Eastpoint Mall, Baltimore, MD 21224 Apr 18 Team Rubicon/Travis Manion Volunteer Event @ the Baltimore Literacy Hub Location: Our Kids Read Free Children's Book Store & Literacy Hub,
Eastpoint Mall, 7860 Eastpoint Mall, Baltimore, MD 21224 May 16 Team Rubicon/Travis Manion Volunteer Event @ the Baltimore Literacy Hub Location: Our Kids Read Free Children's Book Store & Literacy Hub,
Eastpoint Mall, 7860 Eastpoint Mall, Baltimore, MD 21224
What is a 3rd Space?
In 1989, sociologist Ray Oldenburg coined the term third places to describe places we go – aside from home (first place) and work/school (second place) – to be in community, in person. Think: parks, places of worship, public libraries … Coffee shops and bars come to mind, but they carry (presumably) costs that, though nominal to some, count as prohibitive to others.
Authentic third places hinge on accessibility (i.e., they are NO-cost) and agency (i.e., they are places people choose to go). In this time of division, polarization, isolation and digitization, society hungers for third places – whether it knows it or not.
A multitude of academics, writers and commentators, at The University of Chicago and Brookings for example, have extolled the virtue and value of Third Places.
The Children’s Literacy Hub opened in Baltimore, Maryland on April 26, 2025. (Jahmal, is it the ‘Children’s Literacy Hub’, ‘The Baltimore Literacy Hub’ or the ‘Literacy Hub’?) A free children’s bookstore and literary resource center, OKR’s Literacy Hub is a brick-and-mortar manifestation of our conviction that literacy is everyone’s birthright – because it is a bridge to what’s better: academic success, economic independence, and physical, mental and social/emotional health.
More than that, the Literacy Hub is space for children, parents, caregivers and volunteers to come together, united around one purpose: Give children in under-resourced communities access to a lifetime of literacy and the benefits it gives. This unity of purpose in and of itself breeds community.
Contrast parks, which are bastions of parallel (albeit cool!) play: for fitness, for forest bathing, for dog walking … The Hub is the purest of Third Places: space for Belonging. Because communities can’t thrive if some are shut out.
"In 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General issued a rare advisory on the ‘healing effects of social connection and community.’ In it lies an unmistakable call to action: design the built environment to promote social connection."
And Brookings has pointed to a provision of the Affordable Care Act that requires non-profit hospitals to analyze local health needs in their communities and help address them using hospital resources. Given what we know about the importance of social interactions and community networks to address certain mental health issues, hospitals could identify existing or possible third places.
Our Vision & Expansion
Our Literacy Hub is the quintessential Third Place: a space for children and families to gather in person, at NO cost, and connect around literacy. One we aim to expand and replicate with help from foundation and hospital partners.
Our ASK is that you partner with us in response to this imperative.
Help us relocate and expand the Literacy Hub from its current size to 18,000 ft2 at a more centrally located address. There, OKR can:
- • Give free books to even more children so they can have their own home libraries.
- • Maintain an even larger and more accessible Third Place that fosters literacy and social connection.