In March 2020, just before COVID-19 changed everything, Neil Grimes walked into an elementary school classroom in Paterson with a children’s book tucked under his arm. As the curriculum materials librarian at William Paterson University’s Cheng Library, he was there to kick off something new—a program called “Real Men Read.”
The idea wasn’t entirely original. Grimes had borrowed it from Chicago Public Schools, where it had been running since 2006. But he saw how badly it was needed in northern New Jersey.
With most elementary teachers being women and many kids growing up without regular male role models, he feared that too many boys were getting the message that reading wasn’t “for them.” The timing wasn’t great. They launched during Read Across America Week in early March 2020, and within days, schools shut down as the pandemic hit. But instead of giving up, Grimes and his team pivoted. Now the program is on the cusp of its five-year anniversary, with Read Across America Week coming up on March 2-6.
“We just wanted to show kids that men value reading too,” Grimes told the Beacon. “It sounds simple, but sometimes the simple ideas make the biggest difference.”
That first year, 15 men from William Paterson University participated – professors, the library dean, even the provost. They read to 34 different classes, reaching about 510 kids. “We went virtual like everyone else,” he said with a shrug. “Zoom readings, Google Meet, whatever worked. The important thing was keeping the connection with the kids.”
By 2022, the numbers of participants had nearly tripled: 45 readers reaching 1,400 students in 50 classrooms.
On a recent morning at Cheng Library, William Paterson professors read to about a dozen children. A third-grade teacher from a Paterson elementary school said the impact went beyond hearing stories.
“For some of my boys, it was the first time they’d seen a man enthusiastically reading a children’s book,” said the teacher, who asked not to be named. “A few of them started picking up books during free time, who had never done so before. One boy asked me if he could be a librarian when he grew up.”
The volunteer readers said they got something out of it too. One university administrator, who asked not to be named, said the event was the highlight of his month. “I sit in meetings all day dealing with budgets and policies,” he said. “Reading ‘Dragons Love Tacos’ to a bunch of first-graders keeps me sane.”
What makes the program work is its simplicity. There’s no complicated training, no special equipment needed. Volunteers commit to a one-hour session, sign in at the library, and are assigned to read to a group of children. During the pandemic, they just needed a computer and a book.
Grimes said he wants to expand the program to more school districts and recruit more diverse volunteers. “We want readers from all backgrounds and careers,” he said. “The more variety kids see, the more they understand that reading isn’t limited to any one type of person.”
Grimes credited the program’s success to relationships with the College of Education, the Office of Professional Development & School-Community Partnerships, and of course, the participating schools.
Four years in, Real Men Read has become one of Cheng Library’s most successful community outreach programs. And in classrooms across northern New Jersey, kids are discovering that real men do, in fact, read.
