The Lit Spot
The Lit Spot
The Lit Spot
The Lit Spot
The Lit Spot
Literacy for Life.
Literacy for Life.
Literacy for Life.
Literacy for Life.
This campaign is closed
The Lit Spot
Literacy for Life.
Literacy for Life.
Literacy for Life.
Literacy for Life.
Literacy for Life.
Increasingly the United States of America is becoming the Divided States of America. Class divisions, lack of opportunity, poor race relations, and economic disadvantage continue to empower the rich at the expense of others. Illiteracy and specifically illiteracy about how America works is arguably the primary culprit.
32 million adults in the U.S. can’t read. That’s 14 percent of the population. 21 percent of adults in the U.S. read below a 5th grade level, and 19 percent of high school graduates can’t read. We probably don’t need to spell out the benefits of reading and writing for you. Economic security, access to health care, and the ability to actively participate in civic life all depend on an individual’s ability to read. And what about literacy about the American Dream? Too many Americans have no clue what the American Dream is. In fact for many, the American Dream has become a nightmare. Folks are working two and three jobs just to survive while some Americans with advanced college degrees find themselves on food stamps. Educational inequity in America remains prevalent, drop-out rates continue to sour, and the working-poor largely remains poor. It is no secret that race relations in America is at an all-time low while race-related incidents are on the rise. Debt and economic hardship continue to plague many Americans. In a nutshell, the American Dream is fast-becoming a nightmare.
While working to empower Camden high school drop-outs via a Rutgers University community collaboration, Dr. Sharron Scott and Rob Piekarski, EdM agreed that illiteracy, and illiteracy about the America Dream in particular, is problematic. Drawing on their education, life experiences and love for books, The Lit Spot was birthed as an innovative literacy-themed bookstore and cafe with the goal of rendering the American Dream understandable and thus more attainable.
The Lit Spot' sales and services (books, media & educational workshops) primarily focuses on four CORE literary themes:
Class – The knowledge and understanding of class and social mobility in America; characteristics of the low, middle, and high class Americans.
Opportunity – The knowledge, appreciation, and exploration of opportunities to read, write; the ability to seize and create employment, educational, and entrepreneurship opportunities
Race – The knowledge, understanding and impact of the American social construction of race
Economics – The knowledge and ability to make informed and effective financial decisions
Dr. Sharron Scott is an author, educator, social justice advocate and the Managing Director of The Lit Spot. Robert Piekarski a veteran educator, writer, and counselor serves in an advisory capacity as Chief Advisory of The Lit Spot. Rob is a graduate of the Temple and Rutgers Universities with degrees in counseling education. He has lived and worked for more than forty years in the Camden County community. Sharron is a native New Yorker and founder of REEL Education, a consulting firm that ‘Teaches Thru Technology.’ A former K-12 American History teacher, she currently teaches REEL Racial History, REEL African American History, and REEL Black Life at the Pan African Studies Community Education Program (PASCEP) at Temple University. She also instructs at Rutgers University and in the College of Education at Temple. Dr. Scott completed her undergraduate degree at Emory University and her doctorate degree in Higher Education at Temple University.
Our start-up expenses come to $50,050, which are single time fees associated with opening the The Lit Spot. These costs are funded by donations, private investors and crowdsourcing. Please note that we expect to be operating at a loss for the first couple of months before advertising begins to take effect and draw in customers. The Lit Spot will be receiving periodic influxes of cash to cover operating expenses during the first two years as it strives toward sustainable profitability. Funding will continue through InDemand, a continuing crowdsourcing service offered by Indiegogo.
Over the past few decades there has been a lot of speculation about the demise of the American bookstore and some of it may not be entirely unfounded. As big names like Borders fall under the weight of online retailers, e-books, and electronic forms of entertainment, how can small independent bookstores hope to survive? While things aren’t great for bookstores in America today, they also aren’t quite as bad as they seem. Despite dire predictions about the future of print media, Americans still read quite a lot of books, shelling out billions of dollars for them every single year. While a hefty chunk of book sales now happening online, many bookstores both small and large are still raking in healthy profits.
According to the American Booksellers Association, the number of member independent bookstores has increased more than 20 percent since the depths of the recession, from 1,651 in 2009 to 2,094 in 2014. Therefore, The Lit Spot believes this may be a good time to get into the industry and gain market share.
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